John
Stephen Wood was born in Cherokee
County, Georgia, on 8th February, 1885. After graduating from Mercer
University in 1910 he was admitted to the bar and worked as a lawyer
in Jasper. Wood served as solicitor general of the judicial circuit
of Georgia (1921-25) and judge of the superior courts (1925-31). He
was also openly a member of the Ku Klux Klan.
A member of the Democratic Party,
Wood was elected to Congress in 1931. He lost his seat in 1934 but
returned after the Second World War. He was
chairman of the Un-American Activities Committee
(1945-46 and 1949-52) and played an important role in the investigation
of the American Communist Party and
the entertainment industry.
Wood retired from politics in 1952 and returned to his law practice
in Canton, Georgia. John Stephen Wood died in Marietta on 12th September,
1968.
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