I CALLED HIM GRAND DAD, The Lost Political Papers of Harvey G. Fields

[thelaexplorer]

Chapter 3: A TRAIN RIDE TO HOUSTON
In June of 1928 the Louisiana delegation would travel by train from New Orleans to Houston. Fields acted as the chairman and kept close contact with Huey. Long had to remain in Baton Rouge to oversee the legislature that was in session.

When Fields and his delegation arrived at the train station they quickly discovered that other delegations from the East were also on board. Soon after boarding the train a delegate from New York quickly sought out Fields. The delegate introduced himself as Franklin Delano Roosevelt and he had a deal for Harvey.

Roosevelt was the presidential campaign manager for New York Governor Al Smith. If the Louisiana delegation would support Smith as the Democratic nominee for president, the New York delegation would support Fields and the Long delegation when the debate was held as to which state delegation would be seated. When the train reached Houston, Fields quickly called Long with the proposal and advised that Long accept it. A major concern within the Democratic leadership at the time of the 1928 convention was that Smith was a Catholic. This did not pose a major political obstacle for Long due to Louisiana having a predominately catholic population in the southern part of the state. Fields was certain that Smith would get the nomination and it would make sense to align with the Democratic nominee and possibly the future president.

CHAPTER 1:
The world converged on small Dayton, Tennessee. The Baltimore Sun assisted with the defense expenses. The paper had previously paid the bail of Scopes when he was first arrested. Radio Station WGN from Chicago showed up to broadcast the trial. This made history as the first United States trial to be broadcast live. Reporters from around the globe were on hand to watch the legal spectacle. Tom Igoe, was one of these reporters. He had previously covered the 1924 convention and was now present for the infamous trial.

Fields arrived and visited with the two famous participants. One he knew from politics and one he knew from the study of law.

[thelaexplorer]

The book, "I Called Him Grand Dad. The Lost Political Papers of Harvey G. Fields", was based on Harvey Fields political papers that had been discovered 45 years after his death. These papers were donated to the LSU Library. Last week the Library placed the papers on exhibit in the reading room of the Hill Memorial Library at LSU. A link to the LSU site is available by going to the LSU Hill Memorial Library site