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Military Service: Navy

War(s) Served:  World War II

GEORGE BELL TIMMERMAN was born in Anderson, South Carolina. He attended The Citadel in Charleston and received a law degree from the University of South Carolina in 1937. In addition to engaging in the private practice of law, he was Assistant Chief Trial Attorney for the South Carolina Public Service Authority in 1941 and Lieutenant Governor prior to being elected governor. Following the lead of the Supreme Court's ruling in Brown vs. Board of Education that school segregation was unconstitutional, the Interstate Commerce Commission took a stand against segregation on public transportation, and South Carolina's bus segregation law was declared unconstitutional during Timmerman's gubernatorial term. Timmerman joined with the governors of Georgia, Mississippi, and Virginia to urge the adoption of legislation protesting federal encroachment with respect to school integration. He also spoke out against federal aid to education.

Sources:

Sobel, Robert, and John Raimo, eds. Biographical Directory of the Governors of the United States, 1789-1978, Vol. 4. Westport, CT: Meckler Books, 1978. 4 vols.

The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, Vol. I. New York: James T. White & Company.

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