Washington E. Hudson

Washington Elias Hudson was an American politician, Ku Klux Klansman, and lawyer who served in the Oklahoma House of Representatives, the Oklahoma Senate, and on the board of the Grand River Dam Authority.

Early life
Washington Elias Hudson was born on October 8, 1868, in Neeley's Bend (Davidson County), Tennessee, to Horatio Hudson and Nannie Hudson. His father died in 1882. He attended the Woolwine Training School in Nashville and graduated from South Kentucky College in 1890. He studied law at Vanderbilt University graduating in 1892. He married Annie Dade on May 8, 1894. He served as an assistant district attorney between 1895 and 1902, when he moved to Lawton in Oklahoma Territory. He briefly moved to Frederick, Oklahoma in 1907 and Tulsa in 1912.

Oklahoma House of Representatives
In 1914, Hudson was elected to the Oklahoma House of Representatives representing Tulsa County as a member of the Democratic Party. He was a supporter of Governor Robert L. Williams and chaired the oil and gas committee in the house. Hudson helped draw up the impeachment articles for A. P. Watson and served as a prosecutor during his impeachment trial. He helped secure funding for Langston University in 1915.

Oklahoma Senate
He served in the Oklahoma Senate between 1923 and 1927. He helped prepare and present the impeachment of Oklahoma Governor Jack C. Walton.

Founding Oklahoma Ku Klux Klan
Hudson served as Dick Rowland's attorney after the Tulsa Race Massacre. On January 5, 1922, the Oklahoma Ku Klux Klan was officially incorporated as the Tulsa Benevolent Association with Hudson as its chairman. Other incorporators included: John Rogers, C. W. Benedict, William “Shelly” Rogers, and Alf G. Heggem. He left the Klan in 1924, but later rejoined.

University of Tulsa College of Law
In 1923, Hudson helped found Tulsa Law School and he served as the law school's first dean until 1943. In 1943, William Rogers incorporated Hudson's school into the University of Tulsa College of Law.

Lake Hudson, Grand River Dam Authority, and death
Lake Hudson is named after Hudson. He served on the board of the Grand River Dam Authority from 1955 until his death in 1964.