John Stephens Wood
John Stephens Wood (February 8, 1885 – September 12, 1968) was an American lawyer and Democratic politician from Georgia. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives for Georgia’s 9th district in two periods: 1931–1935 and 1945–1953. He also held state and local legal positions in Georgia.
Wood was born on a farm near Ball Ground in Cherokee County, Georgia. He went to public schools, attended North Georgia Agricultural College in Dahlonega, and earned a law degree from Mercer University in Macon in 1910. He began practicing law in Jasper, the county seat of Pickens County.
In public life, Wood served in the Georgia House of Representatives in 1917, was Solicitor General of the Blue Ridge Judicial Circuit (1921–1925), and then a Superior Court Judge for the Blue Ridge Judicial Circuit (1925–1931).
In 1931 he was elected to Congress as a Democrat and served until 1935. He did not seek renomination in 1934 and returned to practicing law. He returned to Congress in 1945 and served until 1953. While in Congress, he was the chairman of the House Un-American Activities Committee and led investigations into the Communist Party and the entertainment industry, which contributed to the Hollywood Blacklist. He was criticized for not investigating the Ku Klux Klan during the same period.
Wood did not seek reelection in 1952 and returned to law practice in Canton, Georgia. Health problems eventually forced his retirement. He died in Marietta, Georgia, on September 12, 1968, at age 83, and was buried in Arlington Memorial Park in Sandy Springs, Georgia.
In 1915, Wood was at the scene of the Leo Frank lynching in Atlanta, driving the vehicle that carried Frank’s body to the undertaker. It is unclear whether he knew about or was involved in the plan.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 07:34 (CET).