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MSS 78-2

Inventory of the Papers of Armistead Mason Dobie

Overview

Professional and judicial papers (1902-1965) that include court material files for Davis v. County School Board of Prince Edward County. Also correspondence, speeches, drafts of briefs, dockets, notebooks.

Language
English
Dates
1902 (1939-1956) 1965 [Bulk]
Extents
6 Linear Feet (15 boxes (6 linear ft.))

Scope & Contents

The Papers of Armistead M. Dobie span the years 1902 to 1963, with the bulk of the material covering 1939 to 1956, the years of Dobie's judgeship. The first three boxes contain general correspondence, which is primarily of biographical interest, although there are some items, especially the 1939 letters from President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Senators Carter Glass and Harry Byrd, that have historical value. The correspondence with Judges John J. Parker and Morris A. Soper in the general files, as well as in the court materials, yield very little information about the cases the three were considering. Other correspondents who wrote Dobie one or two letters of interest were Felix Frankfurter, Stanley Reed, Roscoe Pound, Samuel Williston, Manton Davis, and many former University classmates and students. The general correspondence files were kept alphabetically by correspondent's name or, occasionally, by subject, and within the alphabetical division the correspondence is arranged chronologically. Following the correspondence are four notebooks of mimeographed "textbooks" from Dobie's graduate studies at Harvard and teaching at Virginia in the 1920s.

Boxes four and five contain drafts of speeches arranged alphabetically by title or subject. Boxes six through fifteen contain court materials that include records, briefs, and correspondence for a small percentage of the cases Dobie heard. There are few notes and drafts or copies of the opinions he wrote. There are several folders on the <em>Davis v. County School Board of Prince Edward</em> for both the 1951 and 1955 hearings; also of interest is Judge Waties Waring's dissenting opinion on Davis' "sister" case, <em>Briggs v. Elliott</em>. The cases are arranged chronologically, and are followed by a box containing the dockets for the Fourth Circuit from 1948 to 1956.

Box fifteen also contains notebooks regarding the work of the U.S. Supreme Court Advisory Committee on Rules of Civil Procedure, and of a committee studying the jury system.

Collection Description

  •  
    Physical Description

    This collection consists of 15 boxes (6 linear ft.)

  •  
    Conditions Governing Access

    There are no restrictions.

  •  
    Conditions Governing Use

    There are no restrictions.

  •  
    Preferred Citation

    Papers of Armistead Mason Dobie, 1902 (1939-1956)-1965, MSS 78-2, Box Number, Special Collections, University of Virginia Law Library.

  •  
    Biographical / Historical

    Armistead Mason Dobie was born 15 April 1881 to Mary Kearns Cooke and Richard Augustus Dobie of Norfolk, Virginia. Armistead entered the University of Virginia and earned three degrees in rapid succession: B.A. in 1901, M.A. in 1902, and LL.B in 1904. He left Charlottesville to practice law in St. Louis, Missouri, but returned to his alma mater in 1907 to teach law and to re-establish the close ties with the University which he would maintain the rest of his life. When Dobie joined the faculty, he assumed the teaching duties of Dean William M. Lile, who was temporarily absent due to ill health. Lile returned, and Dobie remained on the faculty, becoming a full professor in 1909.

    World War I claimed Dobie's service in 1917. He was commissioned a captain in the U. S. Army and became an aide to General Cronkhite, with whom he went to France. Before the war was over, Dobie was promoted to major and was made assistant to the chief of staff of the 80th Infantry Division. He was recommended for the D. S. O., and the French honored him by making him an Officier of the Order of Academic Palms.

    After the war was over, Dobie returned to Charlottesville, but instead of teaching, he served for a year as the Executive Director of the University's drive for the Centennial Endowment Fund. The following year, Dobie went to Harvard Law School and began work on an S.J. D. In the summer of 1922, Dobie studied at Columbia's Graduate School of Jurisprudence, returning to Charlottesville in time to begin the fall term.

    At the time Dobie joined the faculty, the law school program increased from a mandatory two to three years. Dobie taught three required courses --criminal law, federal procedure, and probate and administration- - and six electives --Roman law, master and servant, carriers and bailments, code pleading, public officers, and taxation and tax titles. Upon his return from Harvard, Dobie began employing the case method. Young faculty members followed Dobie's lead. With Dean Lile's retirement in 1932, Dobie was appointed dean of the Law School and served in that position until 1939, although ill health in 1936 caused him to relinquish the dean's duties for year or so.

    Armistead Dobie wrote a definitive work on the law of bailments and carriers, a widely respected casebook and several treatises on federal jurisdiction and procedure, and numerous articles for the Virginia, Harvard, and Yale law reviews. In the mid-1930's he was appointed special assistant to the U. S. Attorney General, and served for over twenty years. He also served as legal advisor to the Conflict of Laws Section of the American Law Institute, and was appointed by the U. S. Supreme Court to a committee of 14 to make procedure in federal districts courts uniform nationwide.

    In May of 1939, President Franklin Roosevelt offered Dobie the newly created judgeship on the U. S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia, with the promise that he might move to the Fourth Circuit when vacancy occurred. Dobie accepted. True to his word, Roosevelt appointed him to the Fourth Circuit Court only six months later.

    From early in 1940 until the first of February 1956, Armistead Dobie served on the Fourth Circuit Court with Senior Judges John J. Parker and Morris A. Soper. Dobie heard almost 1400 cases during his 16 years on the Circuit Court bench, and wrote over 450 opinions; he dissented from his colleagues on six occasions, and was upheld by the Supreme Court in four of those opinions.

    The most historically significant cases Dobie heard were those involving school segregation. The decisions he helped reach on these cases reflected his firm belief that African Americans should have facilities as nearly equal to whites as possible, and his reluctance or disinclination to go against the segregation pattern established by <em>Plessy v. Ferguson</em>.

    Judge Dobie officially retired from the bench on the first of February 1956 in poor health. After many months of complete rest, he recovered somewhat, and on 18 July 1958, he married a long-time Charlottesville friend, Elizabeth McKenny. He lived out the rest of his life at their home in Charlottesville, dying at 81 on 8 August 1962.

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fileGeneral Correspondence A-L , 1935-1957MSS 78-2, Box 1
fileGeneral Correspondence M-Y, 1935-1957MSS 78-2, Box 2
fileMiscellaneous Class Notes and Quizzes, 1902-1928 n.d.MSS 78-2, Box 2
fileNotes on the Opera: Questions AMD submitted for the radio show "Texaco's Opera Quiz" , [ca. 1940-1950]MSS 78-2, Box 2
fileResearch Notes, 1947 n.d.MSS 78-2, Box 2
fileResearch Notes: Judges in Virginia, 1947-1951MSS 78-2, Box 3
fileWillliam H. White Lecture Series: District Judges in Virginia before the Civil War, [ca. 1947]MSS 78-2, Box 3
fileNewspaper Clippings re AMD, 1932-1963MSS 78-2, Box 3
fileAdministrative Law-Notes, [1921]MSS 78-2, Box 3
fileHistory of the Law-Notes, 1921MSS 78-2, Box 3
fileSales: Bound Class Notebooks , 1921MSS 78-2, Box 3
fileO.W. Holmes, Collected Legal Papers (Mimeographed copy in cardboard binder), [ca. 1921]MSS 78-2, Box 3
fileR. Pound, Readings in Roman Law and the Civil Law and Modern Codes as Developments Thereof, Part II (Mimeographed copy in cardboard binder), [ca. 1921]MSS 78-2, Box 3
fileM. Dobie, Writs, (Mimeographed copy in cardboard binder), c. 1921MSS 78-2, Box 3
fileSpeeches, Articles, etc., AMSS 78-2, Box 4
fileFamily Life Insurance Company v. John M. Daniel - Records and Briefs, Correspondence, Dissenting Opinion by AMD, 1948 [3 folders]MSS 78-2, Box 6
fileBrooks Transportation Co. v. U.S. and Interstate Commerce Commission - Records and Briefs, Correspondence, 1950-1951 [2 folders]MSS 78-2, Box 6
fileCoin Machine Acceptance Corp. v. Paul J. Yaeger- Motion, 1950MSS 78-2, Box 6
fileHarold R. Love and U.S. v. D. E. Rippotoe, M. M. Rippotoe, Ruth Jackson, and Frank B. David - Notice of Motion, 1950MSS 78-2, Box 6
fileNorfolk Southern Bus v. U.S. and Interstate Commerce Commission - Records and Briefs, 1950MSS 78-2, Box 6
fileNorfolk Southern Bus v. U.S. and Interstate Commerce Commission - Correspondence, 1950MSS 78-2, Box 7
fileNorfolk Southern Bus v. U.S. and Interstate Commerce Commission - Opinion by AMD, 1950MSS 78-2, Box 7
fileOltie W. Kennedy v. U.S. - Records and Briefs, 1950MSS 78-2, Box 7
filePanagiotis Christofis et al. for Mandamus - Correspondence and Opinion, 1950MSS 78-2, Box 7
fileRobert W. Hart and Ellen Brown Hart v. U.S. - Records and Briefs, 1950MSS 78-2, Box 7
fileConstance Carter v. the School Board of Arlington County - Records, Briefs, Opinions, Correspondence. [Correspondence from the Deputy Clerk of the U.S. District Court regarding the appointment of the three-judge panel in the case; copy of Order designatinMSS 78-2, Box 7
fileHenry G. Bartson v. Harry D. Friedman - Records and Briefs, 1950 - 1951MSS 78-2, Box 7
fileThe Alabama Great Southern Railroad Co. v. U.S. - Records and Briefs, 1951MSS 78-2, Box 7
fileAlexandria, Barcroft, and Washington Transit Co. v. U.S. - Records and Briefs, 1951MSS 78-2, Box 7
fileAlexandria, Barcroft, and Washington Transit Co. v. U.S.-Correspondence, 1951MSS 78-2, Box 7
fileAndrew A. Kramer v. U.S. - Records, Briefs, Correspondence, 1951MSS 78-2, Box 7
fileCharles C. Bartoli v. U.S. - Records and Briefs, Correspondence, 1951MSS 78-2, Box 7
fileConsolidated Gas Electric Light and Power Company v. Penn. Water and Power Co. 1951- Records and Briefs, 1951MSS 78-2, Box 8
fileCounty Board of Arlington v. U.S. - Records and Briefs, 1951MSS 78-2, Box 8
fileCraig Kugel v. Alfred Altschul; Records and Briefs, 1951MSS 78-2, Box 8
fileDorothy E. Davis, et al v. Prince Edward County School Board - Records and Briefs, Correspondence, 1950MSS 78-2, Box 8
fileEarl T. Davis v. Clifton B. Cates - Records and Briefs, 1951MSS 78-2, Box 8
fileGeorge N. Mas and Frank M. Mas v. William Coleman, 1951MSS 78-2, Box 8
fileHarry Briggs Jr., et al v. R. W. Elliott, Chairman, et al - Records and Briefs, Correspondence, Dissenting Opinion by Judge J. Waties Waring, 1951MSS 78-2, Box 8
fileJesse Butler v. Mary A. Thompson - Records and Briefs, Correspondence, 1951MSS 78-2, Box 8
fileLocal 33B United Marine Division of I.L.A. v. Battle - Records and Briefs, Correspondence, 1951MSS 78-2, Box 9
fileMount, Trustee v. Norfolk Savings and Loan - Correspondence, 1951MSS 78-2, Box 9
fileMrs. Mae Owens Case v. State of Maryland - Correspondence, 1951MSS 78-2, Box 9
fileNational Labor Relations Boards v. Jegalock Fasteners, Inc. - Correspondence, 1951MSS 78-2, Box 9
filePless v. U.S. - Correspondence, 1951MSS 78-2, Box 9
fileStewart-Warner Corp. v. National Labor Relations Board - Correspondence, 1951MSS 78-2, Box 9
fileVirginia State Conference of Branches of the N.A.A.C.P. v. City of Richmond - Records and Briefs, Correspondence, 1951MSS 78-2, Box 9
fileWalter J. Kozdron-Petition for Writ of Mandamus - Correspondence, 1951MSS 78-2, Box 9
fileNational Labor Relations Board v. Pugh and Barr, Inc. - Records and Briefs, 1951 - 1952MSS 78-2, Box 9
fileBrooks Transportation Co. v. U.S. and Interstate Commerce Commission - Records and Briefs, Correspondence, 1951 - 1952MSS 78-2, Box 9
fileClavin C. Upton, Jr. v. U.S. - Records and Briefs, 1952MSS 78-2, Box 9
fileEmmett Haydon Bozell v. U.S. - Correspondence, 1952MSS 78-2, Box 9
file(F) 15.6136 Acres in Arlington County v. U.S. - Records and Briefs, 1952MSS 78-2, Box 9
fileGeorge A. Meyers v. U.S. - Records and Briefs, 1952MSS 78-2, Box 9
fileHarold Bernstein v. U.S. - Records and Briefs, 1952MSS 78-2, Box 9
fileHouff Transfer, Inc. v. U.S. and Interstate Commerce Commission - Records and Briefs, Correspondence, 1952MSS 78-2, Box 9
fileJerome Weiss v. Loyal M. Haynes, 1952MSS 78-2, Box 9
fileNational Labor Relations Board v. Coca-Cola Bottling Co. of Asheville, N.C. - Correspondence, 1952MSS 78-2, Box 10
fileNational Labor Relations Board v. Collier Construction Co. - Correspondence, 1952MSS 78-2, Box 10
fileNational Labor Relations Board v. Pepsi-Cola Parkensburg Bottlers, Inc. - Records and Briefs, 1952MSS 78-2, Box 10
fileNational Labor Relations Board v. Roger Williams Shirt Corp. - Letter, n.d. [1952]MSS 78-2, Box 10
fileNational Labor Relations Board v. Tec. Optical Products Corp. - Letter, 1952MSS 78-2, Box 10
fileRobert Henry Bugg v. Seaboard Air Line Railroad Co. - Brief and Memorandum, 1952MSS 78-2, Box 10
fileSamuel Kelley v. U.S. - Records and Briefs, 1952MSS 78-2, Box 10
fileSmith's Transfer and Co. v. U.S. and Interstate Commerce Commission - Correspondence, 1952MSS 78-2, Box 10
fileU.S. ex rel Weiss v. Haynes - Correspondence, 1952, 1952MSS 78-2, Box 10
fileU.S. v. Jack Court 1952; Records and Briefs, 1952MSS 78-2, Box 10
fileWilliam H. Ward v. U.S. 1952; Records and Briefs, 1952MSS 78-2, Box 10
fileU.S. v. Wayman C. Hamilton 1952-1953; Records, Briefs, Correspondence, 1952 - 1953MSS 78-2, Box 10
fileAnna Mae Allen v. Southern Railway Co. - Records and Briefs, Correspondence, 1953MSS 78-2, Box 10
fileBadgett Trucking Co. v. U.S. - Records and Correspondence, 1953MSS 78-2, Box 10
fileChesapeake and Ohio Railway Co.: I.C.C. - Reports, 1953MSS 78-2, Box 10
fileEarl T. Ellis v. Clifton B. Cates - Records and Briefs, 1953MSS 78-2, Box 11
fileEdward D. Shaver v. Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad Co.-and R. H. Bugg et al. vs, Seaboard Airline Railroad Co. - Correspondence, 1953MSS 78-2, Box 11
fileHenry Heil and J. Henry v. Orla E. Watson and Telescope Carts - Correspondence, 1953MSS 78-2, Box 11
fileJames E. Pythress v. Frank Pace, Jr. - Records and Briefs, 1953MSS 78-2, Box 11
fileMeacham Corp v. U.S. - Records and Briefs, 1953MSS 78-2, Box 11
fileRalph H. Witt v. William C. Merrill - Records and Briefs, 1953MSS 78-2, Box 11
fileRobert Henry Bugg v. Seaboard Airline Railroad Co. - Records and Briefs, Correspondence, 1953MSS 78-2, Box 11
fileSamuel Cummins v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue - Correspondence, 1953MSS 78-2, Box 11
fileUnited Fuel Gas Co. v. Public Service Commission - Correspondence, 1953MSS 78-2, Box 11
fileU.S. v. C. W. Sullivan, M. L. Silver Farb and C. E. Heath - Records and Briefs, 1953MSS 78-2, Box 11
fileU.S. v. James Russell McGregor - Records and Briefs, 1953MSS 78-2, Box 11
fileBadgett Trucking Co. v. U.S. - Records and Briefs, Correspondence, Opinion by AMD, 1954MSS 78-2, Box 11
fileBadgett Trucking Co. v. U.S. and W. Va. Motor Truck Association v. Public Service Commission - Correspondence, Pre-trial Conference Transcript, 1954MSS 78-2, Box 11
fileChesapeake and Ohio Railway Co. vs. Henry L. Burton - Brief, 1954MSS 78-2, Box 11
fileAppeal of Edmund C. Fletcher on a charge of Criminal Contempt - Records, Briefs, Correspondence, 1954MSS 78-2, Box 11
fileFrank M. Ellison, Jr. v. the Space River Coal Co. - Records and Briefs, 1954MSS 78-2, Box 11
fileThe Jewel Shop of Abbeville, S.C. v. R. C. Pitts - Records and Briefs, 1954MSS 78-2, Box 11
fileJohn L. Greene v. Charles R. Fenwick - Records and Briefs, 1954MSS 78-2, Box 12
fileSamuel R. Beard v. U.S. - Records, Briefs, and Correspondence, 1954MSS 78-2, Box 12
fileSeaboard Airline Railroad Co. v. United States and Interstate Commerce Commission - Records and Briefs, 1954MSS 78-2, Box 12
fileSeaboard Airline Railroad Co. v. U.S. - Correspondence, 1954MSS 78-2, Box 12
fileUnited States v. E.L. Klingstein - Records and Briefs, 1954MSS 78-2, Box 12
fileU.S. v. Joseph C. Dunford - Records and Briefs, 1954MSS 78-2, Box 12
fileUnited States v. One Ford, Van Type One and One-half Ton Truck - Brief, 1950-1951 1954MSS 78-2, Box 12
fileWashington Coca-Cola Bottling Works Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board - Records and Briefs, 1954MSS 78-2, Box 12
fileWest Virginia Motor Trucking Association v. Public Service Commission of W. Va. - Records and Briefs, 1954MSS 78-2, Box 12
fileWest Virginia Motor Trucking Association v. Public Service Commission of W. Va. - Correspondence, 1954MSS 78-2, Box 12
fileWest Virginia Motor Trucking Association v. Public Service Commission of W. Va. - Opinions, one by AMD , 1954 [Handwritten draft and carbon by AMD]MSS 78-2, Box 12
fileWilby Kincey Service Corp. v. Sherry Wilson - Correspondence, 1954MSS 78-2, Box 12
fileBarton Duer and Koch Paper Co. v. Federal Trade Commission - Records and Briefs, 1955MSS 78-2, Box 12
fileBettie Low McCoy v. U.S. - Records, 1955MSS 78-2, Box 12
fileDirector of the U.S. Bureau of Mines v. Three Fork Coal Co. - Records and Correspondence, 1955MSS 78-2, Box 12
fileDorothy E. Davis v. Prince Edward County School Board - Records and Briefs, 1955MSS 78-2, Box 12
fileDorothy E. Davis et al. v. Prince Edward County Board - Correspondence between counsel and three-judge panel: Albert V. Bryan, Sterling Hutcheson and Dobie. Included are two additional letters from D. F. Harrison and John J. Parker, 1955MSS 78-2, Box 12
fileE. I. DuPont de Nemours Co. v. Leo Hall - Records and Briefs, 1955MSS 78-2, Box 13
fileFrank Ellison, Jr. v. Spruce River Coal Co. - Records and Briefs, 1955MSS 78-2, Box 13
fileGroup of Boston and Providence Railroad Corp. Stockholders v. Interstate Commerce Commission - Records and Briefs, 1954 - 1955MSS 78-2, Box 13
fileHarry Briggs, Jr. et al. v. R. W. Elliott et al - Records and Briefs, 1955MSS 78-2, Box 13
fileHarry Briggs, et al v. R.W. Elliot - Correspondence, 1955MSS 78-2, Box 13
fileHelen Clyburn, et al. v. Carolina Mining and Exploration Co. - Records, 1955MSS 78-2, Box 13
fileHillard Saunders v. U.S. - Records and Briefs, 1955MSS 78-2, Box 13
fileIvan M. Halt v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue - Record, 1955MSS 78-2, Box 13
fileJohn Wesley Hamman v. U.S. - Record, 1955MSS 78-2, Box 13
fileJunius Irving Scales v. U.S. - Records, Briefs, Correspondence, 1955MSS 78-2, Box 13
fileLeonard Sykes, Jr. v. U.S., Records, Briefs, Correspondence, 1955MSS 78-2, Box 13
fileLeroy B. Frazier, Jr. et al. v. Board of Trustees of University of North Carolina - Records and Briefs, 1955MSS 78-2, Box 13
fileMinnesota Mining and Manufacturing Co. v. Albert A. Shugler - Records and Briefs, 1955MSS 78-2, Box 14
fileNorvin Rieser, et al. v. Baltimore and Ohio Railway Company - Record, 1955MSS 78-2, Box 14
fileRobins Paper Co. v. Federal Trade Commission - Records and Briefs, 1955MSS 78-2, Box 14
fileSarah A. Walker v. Harry A. L. Baker - Records, 1955MSS 78-2, Box 14
fileS. L. Gardner v. Glens Falls Indemnity Co. - Records, 1955MSS 78-2, Box 14
fileUnited States v. Coley Roby Johnson - Records, 1955MSS 78-2, Box 14
fileAnnie Mary Timmons v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue - Record, 1956MSS 78-2, Box 14
fileBelden R. Reap, Sr. v. Stephen James - Records and Briefs, 1956MSS 78-2, Box 14
fileDorothy E. Davis et al. v. Prince Edward County School Board - Records and Correspondence, 1956MSS 78-2, Box 14
fileEvangelos Papanikolaou v. Atlantic Lines - Records and Briefs, 1956MSS 78-2, Box 14
fileJohn Sakkas v. V. Goulandris - Record, 1955MSS 78-2, Box 14
fileSmith v. Biggs - Letter, 1955MSS 78-2, Box 14
fileU.S. v. Carl V. Wacker and Norman Bebik - Records and Briefs, 1956MSS 78-2, Box 14
fileUnited States v. Kramer - Notes, 1956MSS 78-2, Box 14
fileWilliam H. Jackson v. U.S. District Court, Baltimore, Md. - Records, 1956MSS 78-2, Box 14
fileAlbert Jefferson Lawson, Bankruptcy No. 575 - Records, 1956 - 1957MSS 78-2, Box 14
fileAlbert Jefferson Lawson, Bankruptcy No. 575 - Correspondence, 1956 - 1957MSS 78-2, Box 14
fileDockets for the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, 1948 - 1956MSS 78-2, Box 15
fileCondemnation Rule - Reports, Correspondence, 1947 - 1948MSS 78-2, Box 15
fileOrder Amending a Rule, Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, 1953MSS 78-2, Box 15
fileU.S. Supreme Court Advisory Committee on Rules of Civil Procedure. Tentative Draft III, 1936-03MSS 78-2
fileU.S. Supreme Court Advisory Committee on Rules of Civil Procedure. Tentative Draft II, 1936-10MSS 78-2
fileU.S. Supreme Court Advisory Committee of Rules of Civil Procedure-Report, 1937MSS 78-2
fileJudicial Conference of the U.S. Committee on the Operation of the Jury System. The Jury System of the Federal Courts., 1960MSS 78-2
English