Forrest Dunn

Dunn is the former administrator of the Louisiana State Exhibit Museum in Shreveport.

George Forrest Dunn Jr., known as Forrest Dunn (September 6, 1928 – October 15, 2016), was the administrator of the Louisiana State Exhibit Museum in Shreveport, Louisiana, and a politician. From 1972 to 1984, he served as a Democratic member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from District 3.

In 1980, Dunn ran unsuccessfully for the United States House of Representatives in Louisiana's 4th congressional district. He lost to Buddy Roemer, then of Bossier Parish, who won the run-off general election.

Early life and education

Dunn was born in Plain Dealing in northern Bossier Parish to George Forrest Dunn Sr. and the former Gladys Malone. The senior Dunn was a native of Bradley, a village in Lafayette County (pronounced LA FAYE ETTE) in far southwestern Arkansas, located just north of the Louisiana boundary. He was an automobile mechanic.

Dunn attended Bossier High School. He did not graduate with his class, but obtained a General Equivalency Diploma in 1947. He served two years in the United States Navy, stationed aboard the U.S.S. Richmond.

Marriage and family

Dunn married Rachel Nelson when they were both still teenagers. The couple had three children together. The Dunns subsequently divorced. Dunn later married Donna Young.^[1]

Business and managerial career

Dunn first worked as a salesman for Haverty's Furniture Store. In 1955, he launched his own store, Dunn Furniture Company, which operated for three decades until 1985. The main location was at 4001 Jewella Avenue in Shreveport; he opened a second outlet on Line Avenue.^[2] Son Robby Dunn assisted in the store for a number of years and later ran a flea market. Dunn said that so many changes had occurred in the production, marketing, and sale of furniture over the years that it was "too much to mention."^[2]

Four years after closing his furniture store, Dunn accepted an appointment from the Republican Secretary of State W. Fox McKeithen, to head the state museum. It is located on the site of the Louisiana State Fair. As museum administrator, Dunn has worked to bring new exhibits to Shreveport of interest to a wide segment of the community, including an acclaimed one on politicians Huey Long and Earl Kemp Long.

Civic activity

Dunn is a member of the Downtown Shreveport Rotary International, one of the largest such clubs in the United States. He is a member of St. Marks' Episcopal Church on Rutherford Street in Shreveport.

Political career, 1972-1984

Dunn entered politics by being elected to the Caddo Parish School Board, where he served from 1969-1972.

In 1971, Dunn was elected to the state legislature from District 3. That year Edwin Washington Edwards was elected as governor. Dunn was repeatedly re-elected, serving into 1984. He worked in the state House with state Senator Don W. Williamson to gain approval for Louisiana State University at Shreveport, then a community college, to be developed as a four-year college, and later as a research university. He fought to place Shreveport police and firefighters under the Louisiana state retirement system. He supported a state constitutional amendment to require members of the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) to run at the same time, rather than with staggered terms. It was ratified.

Dunn supported having the state superintendent of education be appointed by the governor, rather than elected. The next session of the legislature approved this change. He credited Representative Alphonse J. Jackson of Shreveport with getting the bill passed.

Dunn said that he managed to acquire a popular water ride from the New Orleans World's Fair of 1984, but the City of Shreveport has never used it. Dunn said that he worked with Republican Governor David C. Treen to obtain six vans for the H.A.P. House on the Barksdale Air Force Base in Bossier City. The H.A.P. House provides special services for the handicapped.

Dunn obtained state funds for preparation of a master plan for the annual Louisiana State Fair in Shreveport. He also gained authorization for funding of a master plan and outlay plans for the state museum which he administers.

Later life

Though he maintains Democratic affiliation, Dunn endorsed Republican President Gerald R. Ford, Jr., in the 1976 presidential election. In 1980, he ran for Louisiana's 4th congressional district seat, then held by incumbent Representative Anthony Claude "Buddy" Leach, of Leesville. Receiving 8,208 votes (6.7 percent), Dunn finished fifth among the six candidates, including former state Senator Cecil K. Carter, Jr., of Shreveport; state Senator Foster Campbell of Bossier Parish; and state Representative Loy F. Weaver of Claiborne Parish. As predicted by some Republicans, Dunn polled more than enough votes to keep the Republican candidate, James H. "Jimmy" Wilson of Vivian, from a first- or second-place primary finish. This is based on assuming that Dunn voters may have chosen Wilson as an alternate because the two men shared ideas of fiscal conservatism.

The seat was won by Buddy Roemer, who unseated Leach in the runoff election, officially the Louisiana general election. Dunn declined to formally support either Leach or Roemer in the second round of balloting. This was held concurrently with the 1980 presidential election, in which Republican Ronald W. Reagan unseated Democrat Jimmy Carter.

In 2010 Dunn retired as administrator at the Louisiana State Exhibit Museum. Dunn registered as an Independent voter.^[3] He died on October 15, 2016.^[4]

References