Representative Horace Robinson Kornegay

Horace Robinson Kornegay (March 12, 1924 – January 21, 2009) was a Democratic U.S. Representative from North Carolina who served four terms in the United States Congress from 1961 to 1969. Born in Asheville, Buncombe County, North Carolina, he moved with his family to Greensboro, where he was educated in the public schools. He graduated from Greensboro Senior High School (now Grimsley High School) in 1941, laying the foundation for a career that would combine military service, law, and politics.

During World War II, Kornegay served in the United States Army from December 14, 1942, to February 1, 1946. He was assigned to Company D, 397th Infantry Regiment, 100th Infantry Division, and saw duty in the European theater of operations. Rising to the rank of private first class, he was part of the large cohort of young Americans whose wartime experience preceded and shaped their later public service. Following his discharge, he returned to North Carolina to pursue higher education under the momentum of the postwar era.

Kornegay attended the Georgia School of Technology (now the Georgia Institute of Technology) before transferring to Wake Forest College. He graduated from Wake Forest with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1947 and an LL.B. degree in 1949. That same year he was admitted to the bar and entered the practice of law in Greensboro, North Carolina. His legal training and early practice quickly led him into public service within the state’s judicial system.

From 1951 to 1953, Kornegay served as assistant district solicitor, gaining experience as a prosecutor in North Carolina’s courts. He was subsequently elected district solicitor (prosecuting attorney) for the twelfth judicial district of North Carolina in 1954 and was reelected in 1958. In this role he was responsible for prosecuting criminal cases on behalf of the state, building a reputation that helped launch his congressional career. His work as solicitor coincided with a period of social and political change in the South, during which he became increasingly active in Democratic Party affairs.

Kornegay was elected as a Democrat to the Eighty-seventh Congress and to the three succeeding Congresses, serving from January 3, 1961, to January 3, 1969, as a Representative from North Carolina. His service in Congress occurred during a significant period in American history, encompassing the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, the height of the civil rights movement, and the early years of U.S. escalation in Vietnam. As a member of the House of Representatives, he participated in the legislative process and represented the interests of his North Carolina constituents. Reflecting the views of many Southern Democrats of the era, he voted against the Civil Rights Act of 1964. He also served as a delegate to the 1964 Democratic National Convention, further underscoring his role in national party politics. Kornegay chose not to be a candidate for reelection in 1968 to the Ninety-first Congress, concluding his House service after four consecutive terms.

After leaving Congress, Kornegay embarked on a long career in the tobacco industry’s principal trade association. He joined the Tobacco Institute, Inc., in January 1969 as vice president and counsel, serving in that capacity until June 1970. He then became president of the Institute, a position he held from June 1970 to February 1981, during a period of growing public health scrutiny and regulatory attention to tobacco. In February 1982 he was named chairman of the Tobacco Institute, serving in that role until December 1986. His leadership there placed him at the center of industry efforts to influence public policy and defend the interests of tobacco manufacturers.

In January 1987, Kornegay resumed the private practice of law in Greensboro, returning to the profession with which he had begun his public life. He continued to reside in Greensboro, remaining part of the civic and legal community of the city for the rest of his life. Horace Robinson Kornegay died in Greensboro on January 21, 2009, at the age of 84, having spent much of his career in public office, advocacy, and law in his home state of North Carolina.