Higgs, John Curtis, 1902-1986
Dates
- Existence: 1902 - 1986
Biography
John Curtis Higgs, Sr. was born May 12, 1902 to Thomas Franklin Higgs, Sr. and Anes Cheatham Higgs, who resided three miles from Verona, Tennessee. He attended grammar school in Verona and finished his high school education at a boarding prep school which became the Castle Heights Military Academy by the time he graduated. He later attended the University of Tennessee.
He spent some time working in Detroit before accepting a position with the highway garage--which began his career with the state of Tennessee.
During the Great Depression, John Curtis Higgs, Sr. was employed by the work program under the Tennessee Emergency Relief Administration. He was selected as the assignment office for Middle Tennessee in 1935 for the Works Progress Administration. In 1937, he became senior interviewer for the National Re-employment Service, which eventually became the Tennessee State Employment Service and remained with the State Employment Commission in various capacities until his retirement at the age of 70.
Higgs married Monetta Taylor, and they had two children, John Curtis Higgs, Jr. and Joanna Higgs Ross. John Curtis Higgs died in September 1986.
Found in 1 Collection or Record:
John Curtis Higgs, Sr. Autobiography
The John Curtis Higgs, Sr. Autobiography is a bound typescript of Higgs' memoirs. The manuscript covers a span of eighty-one years from May 12, 1902 to December 1983 and includes recollections of life on a farm in Marshall County, Tennessee, working in various roles for the Tennessee State Highway Department, the Great Depression, the Volstead Act, and raising his family.
