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'''Hamilton Mitchell''', 1879-1945, was an author, diplomat, and at least one-time actor who carried a wide influence in his home state of [[Arkansas]].  

'''Hamilton Mitchell''', 1879-1945, was an author, diplomat, and at least one-time actor who carried a wide influence in his home state of [[Arkansas]].  

Born in Petit Douche, [[Arkansas]], in 1879, Hamilton was the son of a white sharecropping family who had political connections to [[Jefferson Davis]], president of the [[Confederate States of America]] during its brief existence. Little is known about his childhood, other than his ambition to quickly regain his family's lost status amongst southern families. In 1905 he graduated with honors from [[Hendrix College]] and went to work for the office of the governor in [[Little Rock]]. He soon gained a reputation for his uncouth remarks and generally flippant attitude. Through luck- some suspect bribes, or worse- he managed to rise to the rank of Assistant Attorney General for the state of Arkansas in 1909, a position he held for only five months before being fired and briefly jailed for [[sodomy]], then illegal in the state.  

Born in Petit Douche, [[Arkansas]], in 1879, Hamilton was the son of a white sharecropping family who had political connections to [[Jefferson Davis]], president of the [[Confederate States of America]] during its brief existence. Little is known about his childhood, other than his ambition to quickly regain his family's lost status amongst southern families. In 1905 he graduated with honors from [[Hendrix College]] and went to work for the office of the governor in [[Little Rock]]. He soon gained a reputation for his uncouth remarks and generally flippant attitude. Through luck- some suspect bribes, or worse- he managed to rise to the rank of Assistant Attorney General for the state of Arkansas in 1909, a position he held for only five months before being fired and briefly jailed for sodomy, then illegal in the state.  

Virtually nothing is known about Mitchell's life from that point until 1914, when he attempted to enlist in the [[U.S. Army]] in [[Los Angeles]] after the outbreak of the first [[World War]] but was rejected for reasons unknown. Dejected, he found work as an extra in the unquestionably racist film [[Birth of a Nation]], but as a Southerner, was seen as a valuable addition to the work and was promoted to the cast soon after.  

Virtually nothing is known about Mitchell's life from that point until 1914, when he attempted to enlist in the [[U.S. Army]] in [[Los Angeles]] after the outbreak of the first [[World War]] but was rejected for reasons unknown. Dejected, he found work as an extra in the unquestionably racist film [[Birth of a Nation]], but as a Southerner, was seen as a valuable addition to the work and was promoted to the cast soon after.