John Ben Shepperd

In September 1956, as attorney general, Shepperd sued the Texas NAACP after Gov. Allan Shivers blamed the group for the Mansfield school crisis. A Tyler district judge, Otis T. Dunagan, granted a temporary injunction that month on grounds that included barratry. After a 17-day trial in 1957 he issued a narrower permanent injunction in May. Shepperd moved to Odessa after leaving office, and the leadership program at the University of Texas Permian Basin that bears his name credits him with proposing the Texas historical marker program.

What the plaque says

John Ben Shepperd (October 19, 1915 - March 8, 1990) A native of Gladewater, John Ben Shepperd began a law practice in Longview soon after his graduation from the University of Texas Law School in 1941. After service in World War II, he gained prominence as national president of the Jaycees. His public service career began in 1946, when he was appointed to fill his father's unexpired term as county commissioner. Governor Allan shivers appointed Shepperd secretary of state in 1950. He was elected attorney general in 1952 and was reelected in 1954. As attorney general, he attacked political corruption in Duval county and the misuse of state veterans land funds. After retiring from public office in 1957, Shepperd moved to Odessa where he practiced law and supported numerous civic and charitable endeavors. He was appointed to a number of state and national boards and commissions, including the Texas State Historical Survey Committee (now Texas Historical Commission). He was the driving force in the growth and development of the Historical Marker Program, which became nationally recognized during his term as chairman. He renovated his Gladewater boyhood home and farm after his retirement. He is buried in the family cemetery south of town. (1992)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• East Texas Oil Museum — 12 mi
  A Kilgore College museum that rebuilds the 1930s oil boom in a full-scale Boomtown with a general store, drugstore and newspaper office, plus dioramas, films and antiques given by East Texans.
• Tyler State Park — 20 mi
  A 985-acre park eight miles north of Tyler, built by the Civilian Conservation Corps from 1935 to 1941 around a 64-acre spring-fed lake, with more than 13 miles of trails.
• New London Museum and Cenotaph — 20 mi
  A volunteer-run museum beside the pink granite cenotaph for the March 1937 school gas explosion, holding a model of the school, a blackboard from that day and an odorizer device.
• Camp Ford Historic Park — 21 mi
  A free county park north of Tyler on the site of the largest Confederate prison camp west of the Mississippi, with a kiosk, an interpretive trail and a historical society museum downtown.

More markers nearby

• Gladewater Lodge No. 852, A.F. & A.M. — steps away
• First United Methodist Church of Gladewater — steps away
• New Hope Missionary Baptist Church — 0.4 mi
• Gladewater — 0.9 mi