REPOSITORY:
Southern Appalachian Archives, Liston B. Ramsey Center for Appalachian Studies, Mars Hill University
COLLECTION TITLE:
Liston B. Ramsey Collection, 1976-2000
COLLECTION NUMBER:
00006
CREATOR:
Liston B. Ramsey
LANGUAGE OF MATERIAL:
Material in English
EXTENT:
8.3 Linear Feet
LOCATION:
These materials are located in the Southern Appalachian Archives in Renfro Library, Mars Hill University. For assistance, please call (828) 689-1262 or e-mail archives@mhu.edu.
ABSTRACT:
Liston Bryan Ramsey (February 26, 1919-September 2, 2001) entered public service after being elected to the Marshall Board of Alderman where he served from 1948 to 1960. Ramsey was first elected to the North Carolina House of Representatives in 1960 and would go on to serve nineteen consecutive terms and become one of the legislature's most respected members. In 1981, Ramsey was elected as Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives, and he served four terms in this position before his ouster in 1988. During his tenure as Speaker, Ramsey was known for securing state funds for his home region of western North Carolina, a region that had often been overlooked by the state’s government. Due to his declining health, Ramsey retired from Raleigh in 1999 and returned home to his beloved Madison County. Today, the Liston B. Ramsey Center for Regional Studies on the campus of Mars Hill University is one of many facilities in western North Carolina to bear Ramsey’s name.