William M. Rainach

William Odom was born in Kentwood, Louisiana.[2] His mother died of influenza in 1917, and his father placed him in an orphanage. He was adopted by Mr. and Mrs. Albert M. Rainach of Summerfield in Claiborne Parish, Louisiana. In 1924, he was struck in the eye by a baseball, which eventually cost him his sight in that eye.[2]

After attending Southern State College, Strayer’s Business College and Louisiana State University, he founded the Claiborne Electric Cooperative in 1939, which brought power to rural northwestern Louisiana. In 1945, he also established the Claiborne Butane Company.[2] His business success enabled him to enter politics.

Rainach was elected to the House of Representatives in 1940, remaining there until 1948. That year, he was elected to the first of three terms in the State Senate, serving from 1948 to 1960. He advocated disenfranchising African American voters. Days after the Supreme Court determined in Brown v. Board of Education (1954) that laws establishing racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional, the Louisiana Joint Legislative Committee was formed to fight against the decision. Senator Rainach was its first chairman,[4] serving for six years and being one of the leaders of its efforts.[5][6] He also ran unsuccessfully for governor as a segregationist in 1959,[1] placing third, with 17% of the vote.[5]

In 1969, he was one of the founders of the segregationist Claiborne Academy.

Rainach committed suicide at the age of 64, shooting himself with a pistol at his farm on January 26, 1978.[1]

In the 1989 film Blaze, he was played by James Harper.

• Willie Rainach and the defense of segregation in Louisiana, 1954-1959, a doctoral thesis (preview)