GRIFFIN, (SAMUEL) MARVIN
From Knob Knowledge
September 4, 1907-June 13, 1982. Citadel Class of 1929. Governor of Georgia, 1955-1963. Ernest F. (Fritz) Hollings was elected governor of South Carolina in 1958, so that from 1958 to 1962, the governors of two states were both Citadel graduates. Griffin was the only Citadel graduate who was the governor of a state other than South Carolina. While governor, Current Biography said he "maintained a staunchly segregationist policy; opposed United States Supreme Court's 1954 school desegregation ruling and condemned all racial integration...." (Source: Current Biography, 1982, p. 486) Yet this was over 40 years ago. Today his stand would most certainly be quite different.
In 1933, after the death of his father, Pat Griffin, Marvin Griffin became the editor and publisher of the Bainbridge (Georgia) Post-Searchlight, one of Georgia's leading weekly newspapers. During WWII, he served in the Southwest Pacific. He rose to become a Lieutenant Colonel, commanding a battalion in the New Guinea campaign. (Source: Current Biography, 1956, pp. 229-231) His portrait hangs in the Daniel Library. For additional information see: Biographical Directory of the Governors of the United States, 1789-1978, vol. 1, p. 322. (REF E176 .B573 v. 1) (HN & DH)
See also GRADUATES--GOVERNORS.
