William (Bill) Colmer first entered Congress in 1933, the same year that President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his New Deal began to reshape the role of government in the United States. While the New Deal's efforts to combat the Great Depression proved popular in the beginning, by 1935 many congressmen, especially southerners, began to distance themselves from the administration's attempts at social reform. Although many of his colleagues refused to endorse the increasingly liberal agenda of the New Deal, Congressman Colmer remained loyal throughout the decade. His loyalty to the administration was due in part to the south Mississippi district he represented. District Six was Mississippi's melting pot and contained the largest labor force and the most diverse industries in the state. Also, the presence of organized labor set District Six apart from other Mississippi congressional districts. While the conservatism of Colmer's later career has been well documented, his earliest years in Congress have not. This thesis will focus on the liberal Bill Colmer, and his record regarding labor legislation helps measure and explain his New Deal liberalism.
","abstract_html":"<p>William (Bill) Colmer first entered Congress in 1933, the same year that President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his New Deal began to reshape the role of government in the United States. While the New Deal's efforts to combat the Great Depression proved popular in the beginning, by 1935 many congressmen, especially southerners, began to distance themselves from the administration's attempts at social reform. Although many of his colleagues refused to endorse the increasingly liberal agenda of the New Deal, Congressman Colmer remained loyal throughout the decade. His loyalty to the administration was due in part to the south Mississippi district he represented. District Six was Mississippi's melting pot and contained the largest labor force and the most diverse industries in the state. Also, the presence of organized labor set District Six apart from other Mississippi congressional districts. While the conservatism of Colmer's later career has been well documented, his earliest years in Congress have not. This thesis will focus on the liberal Bill Colmer, and his record regarding labor legislation helps measure and explain his New Deal liberalism.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Moulds, Zachary Wyatt"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts (MA)","degree_level":"Masters Thesis","degree_discipline":"History","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Chester Morgan","Max Grivno","Deanne Nuwer"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2012,"date_issued":"2012-05-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2012-05-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:45:06Z","subjects":["Arts and Humanities","History","United States History"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/488","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Chester Morgan","Max Grivno","Deanne Nuwer"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Moulds, Zachary Wyatt"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2018-11-14T08:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["History"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Masters Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts (MA)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Arts and Humanities","History","United States History"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/488"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["William (Bill) Colmer first entered Congress in 1933, the same year that President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his New Deal began to reshape the role of government in the United States. While the New Deal's efforts to combat the Great Depression proved popular in the beginning, by 1935 many congressmen, especially southerners, began to distance themselves from the administration's attempts at social reform. Although many of his colleagues refused to endorse the increasingly liberal agenda of the New Deal, Congressman Colmer remained loyal throughout the decade. His loyalty to the administration was due in part to the south Mississippi district he represented. District Six was Mississippi's melting pot and contained the largest labor force and the most diverse industries in the state. Also, the presence of organized labor set District Six apart from other Mississippi congressional districts. While the conservatism of Colmer's later career has been well documented, his earliest years in Congress have not. This thesis will focus on the liberal Bill Colmer, and his record regarding labor legislation helps measure and explain his New Deal liberalism.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["William Colmer and the Politics of the New Deal Labor Legislation 1933-1940"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Chester Morgan","Max Grivno","Deanne Nuwer"],"dc:creator":["Moulds, Zachary Wyatt"],"dc:date.available":["2018-11-14T08:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["William (Bill) Colmer first entered Congress in 1933, the same year that President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his New Deal began to reshape the role of government in the United States. While the New Deal's efforts to combat the Great Depression proved popular in the beginning, by 1935 many congressmen, especially southerners, began to distance themselves from the administration's attempts at social reform. Although many of his colleagues refused to endorse the increasingly liberal agenda of the New Deal, Congressman Colmer remained loyal throughout the decade. His loyalty to the administration was due in part to the south Mississippi district he represented. District Six was Mississippi's melting pot and contained the largest labor force and the most diverse industries in the state. Also, the presence of organized labor set District Six apart from other Mississippi congressional districts. While the conservatism of Colmer's later career has been well documented, his earliest years in Congress have not. This thesis will focus on the liberal Bill Colmer, and his record regarding labor legislation helps measure and explain his New Deal liberalism.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/488"],"dc:subject":["Arts and Humanities","History","United States History"],"dc:title":["William Colmer and the Politics of the New Deal Labor Legislation 1933-1940"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["History"],"thesis:degree_level":["Masters Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts (MA)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:45:06Z"}