William Purington Cole, Jr.

William Purington Cole, Jr. (May 11, 1889–September 22, 1957) was an American jurist and politician. From 1927 to 1929 and from 1931 to 1942, Cole was a U.S. Congressman who represented the second district of Maryland.

Cole was born in Towson, Maryland, and graduated as a civil engineer from Maryland Agricultural College (now the University of Maryland, College Park) in 1910. He also studied law at the University of Maryland School of Law, was admitted to the bar in 1912, and commenced practice the same year.

During World War I, Cole was commissioned as first lieutenant in the United States Army in November 1917. He was assigned to the 316th Regiment of Infantry, 79th Division at Fort Meade, and served overseas. He resumed the practice of law in 1919 in Towson.

In 1926, Cole was elected as a Democrat to the U.S. Congress, serving one full term from March 4, 1927, to March 3, 1929. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1928, and resumed the practice of law in Towson. He was again elected to Congress in 1930, and this time served from March 4, 1931, until his resignation on October 26, 1942 to become a judge of the United States customs court. He served in that capacity until 1952.

Afterwards, Cole served as a member of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution from 1940 to 1943, and was named a member of the Board of Regents of the University of Maryland, College Park in 1931, becoming chairman of the board in 1944. He was appointed judge of the United States Court of Customs and Patent Appeals by President Harry S. Truman on July 10, 1952, and served until his death in Baltimore, Maryland. He is interred in Arlington National Cemetery.

Cole Field House at the University of Maryland, College Park, is named in his honor.

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