The following is posted on behalf of Mike Widener, Archivist/Rare Book
Librarian at the Tarlton Law Library.
_________________________
ORAL HISTORIES OF TEXAS SUPREME COURT CHIEF JUSTICES
PUBLISHED BY UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS LAW LIBRARY
The oral memoirs of three former chief justices of the Texas Supreme Court,
covering 35 years of the court's history, have been published by the Jamail
Center for Legal Research, The University of Texas at Austin. Entitled "A
Texas Supreme Court Trilogy", the three-volume set includes lengthy oral
history interviews with Joe R. Greenhill, Jack Pope, and the late Robert W.
Calvert.
In his foreword to "A Texas Supreme Court Trilogy", the current chief
justice, Thomas R. Phillips, calls the interviews "an invaluable resource
for those interested in the modern development of the Supreme Court of
Texas," especially since the only comprehensive history of the court was
published in 1917.
The interviews with Calvert, Greenhill, and Pope not only shed light on the
Texas Supreme Court's inner workings, its landmark decisions, and its
members during their tenure (1950-1985). All three have much to say about
campaigning for statewide office and their ideas for reforming judicial
elections. In addition, all three graduated from The University of Texas
School of Law in the 1930s, and their accounts provide lively perspectives
on their law professors and legal studies.
"The interviews reveal each of these men as principled, warm human beings,
devoted to both their fellow man and the rule of law," said Professor Roy
M. Mersky, director of the Jamail Center for Legal Research.
The interviews also document each man's unique contributions and
experiences. Robert Calvert gives colorful accounts of his speakership in
the Texas House in the 1930s, of small-town law practice in Hillsboro,
Texas, and of the battles between liberals and conservatives that split the
Texas Democratic Party in the 1940s. Joe Greenhill discusses his work on
the 1949 Sweatt v. Painter case, which led to the integration of graduate
school education in the South, and of the developments in products
liability, water law, and mineral law which he helped shape as an attorney
and judge. Jack Pope describes his landmark Valmont Plantations decision
(1961), involving Spanish water rights, and his work as a judicial reformer.
The interviews were conducted in 1985-1986 as part of the UT Law School's
contribution to the 1986 Texas Sesquicentennial Celebration. The
interviewer, Dr. H. W. (Bill) Brands, is now professor of history at Texas
A & M University. Each interview includes a detailed index of names, court
cases, and subjects.
The three-volume "Texas Supreme Court Trilogy" can be purchased for $50
from the Jamail Center for Legal Research; individual volumes are available
for $20 each.
To order "A Texas Supreme Court Trilogy", contact:
Publications Coordinator
Jamail Center for Legal Research
University of Texas School of Law
727 E. Dean Keeton St. Austin, TX 78705-3224
Phone: 512/471-7726; fax: 512/471-0243
For more information, contact:
MIKE WIDENER, Archivist/Rare Books Librarian
Tarlton Law Library, School of Law
University of Texas at Austin
727 E. Dean Keeton Street, Austin, TX 78705-3224
Phone: 512/471-7263; fax: 512/471-0243
E-mail: mwidener@mail.law.utexas.edu
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