AL HJR472

Honors and commends the late Carl Atwood Elliott, a United States Congressman from Alabama's 7th District who served eight consecutive terms from 1949 to 1965.

Elliott authored the 1956 Library Services Act, which established mobile libraries (Bookmobiles) for rural Americans, and co-authored the 1958 National Defense Education Act, enabling more than 30 million college students to obtain student loans.

Elliott was born in Franklin County, Alabama, graduated from Vina High School and the University of Alabama with a Bachelor's Degree and Juris Doctorate, served in the United States Army from 1942 to 1944, and practiced law in Jasper representing coal miners and their families.

In 1990, Elliott became the first recipient of the John F. Kennedy Profiles in Courage Award; his autobiography, "The Cost of Courage: The Journey of An American Congressman," was published in 1992 and reprinted by the University of Alabama Press.

Elliott authored numerous books on local history including five volumes of Annals of Northwest Alabama, a history of Red Bay, Alabama, and seven volumes on the history of area coal miners.