James R. Beverly
| James R. Beverley | |
|---|---|
| Governor of Puerto Rico | |
|
In office January 1932 – July 1933 |
|
| President |
Herbert Hoover Franklin D. Roosevelt |
| Preceded by | Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. |
| Succeeded by | Robert Hayes Gore |
|
Governor of Puerto Rico Interim |
|
|
In office August 1929 – September 9, 1929 |
|
| Preceded by | Horace Mann Towner |
| Succeeded by | Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
James Rumsey Beverley June 15, 1894 Amarillo, Texas |
| Died | June 17, 1967 (aged 73) Austin, Texas |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Mary Jarmon |
| Alma mater | University of Texas |
| Profession | Lawyer, politician |
James Rumsey Beverley (June 15, 1894 – June 17, 1967) was a United States lawyer and politician, appointed as Attorney General of Puerto Rico, serving 1927-1932. During this period, he was appointed as acting governor of Puerto Rico in 1929 and in January 1932, he was appointed Governor by President Herbert Hoover and served through 1933. He was the only non-Puerto Rican appointee of 15 from 1900 to 1952 who could speak Spanish before going there.
Beverley was born in Amarillo, Texas to William and Clara (Hendricks) Beverley. He attended local schools and went to college at the University of Texas in Austin. He served in the United States Army during World War I as an artillery officer, serving in France. After completing law school at the University of Texas and starting work as a lawyer, he married Mary Smith Jarmon in 1925.
Beverley was active in Republican Party politics in Texas. Beverley was appointed as Assistant Attorney General of Puerto Rico in 1925, serving until 1927.
Beverley spoke Spanish as a second language. In 1927, he was appointed as Attorney General of Puerto Rico, serving until 1932. When appointed as governor of Puerto Rico for periods in 1929 and 1932-1933, he was the only one of fifteen non-Puerto Ricans to serve in that position between 1900 and 1952 who already spoke Spanish. He became close friends with Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., who followed him in 1930 as governor, serving until 1932. The two men had a close relationship for the rest of their lives.
In Beverley's tenures as governor, he had to deal with a major hurricane in which several people died and there was extensive damage. He also managed through the end of Prohibition on the island.
In 1932, during his second period of governor, he provoked controversy by recommending the use of birth control. American Catholics were much more disturbed by this and raised many objections than did Puerto Ricans, who mostly ignored his comments. Soon after taking office, he had to deal with agitation resulting from charges made by Pedro Albizu Campos, president of the Nationalist Party, that Cornelius Rhoads, an American medical researcher with the Rockefeller Foundation, had been working on a United States plot to exterminate Puerto Ricans, based on Rhoads' own letter that became public. He ordered an investigation by the Attorney General José Ramón Quiñones, who found no evidence of wrongdoing by Rhoads of the American health project.
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