Kilgore, Harley M.

Kilgore, Harley M. (Martin) (1893–1956) U.S. senator; born in Brown, W.Va. A liberal West Virginia judge, he went on to serve in the U.S. Senate (Dem., W.Va.; 1941–56). He chaired the so-called "Kilgore committee" that oversaw U.S. mobilization efforts for World War II and helped to set up the War Mobilization Board (1943). On the influential Appropriations Committee, he helped to establish the National Science Foundation (1950).