The Civil Rights History Project: Survey of Collections and Repositories

Robert L. Taylor papers

Repository: University of Tennessee. Modern Political Archives

Collection Description (CRHP): This collection of this notable East Tennessee judge includes extensive information on the Clinton, Tennessee, school desegregation ordeal.

Collection Description (Extant): The collection includes both the personal and professional
papers of Judge Taylor. A number of documents related to Judge Taylor's family history and their role in Tennessee history are included among the Papers, as are documents detailing Judge Taylor's early life. Documents detailing Judge Taylor's professional life are also found among the Papers.
The personal correspondence contained in the collection consist primarily of letters sent to Judge Taylor by well wishers and those interested in Judge Taylor's family history. His professional correspondence consists primarily of outgoing letters on administrative matters. Correspondence of a personal nature from notable individuals such as Justices Warren Burger, Potter Stewart and William O. Douglas, Senators Albert Gore, Sr., Estes Kefauver and Kenneth McKellar and Governor Gordon Browning are located among the Personal Correspondence files. Letters from these individuals concerning professional or official matters are contained within the Professional Correspondence files.
Among Judge Taylor's professional papers are copies of speeches delivered in the mid 1950's by Department of Justice officials, including Attorney General Herbert Brownell, Jr., on a variety of subjects such as Communism, anti trust matters, international law, and the federal prison system. Also included in the collection are the contents of notebooks from the 1973, 1974 and 1975 Judicial Conferences of the United States. Judge Taylor's own speeches on a variety of professional and civic topics, along with his joke file and collection of quotes, poetry and anecdotes, are among the Papers.
Major portions of the Collection are related to lawsuits over which Judge Taylor presided. Transcripts of the contempt of court litigation arising out of the desegregation of the Clinton, Tennessee schools are among the Papers, as are a large number of letters to Judge Taylor protesting his actions in this case. Other major portions of the collection consist of materials related to the prosecutions of Illinois Governor Otto Kerner, Jr. and Maryland Governor Marvin Mandel. Extensive pre trial, trial, post trial and appellate materials are included in the collection. Of particular note are the reflective notes of Judge Taylor and his law clerks regarding these cases. Materials related to the Tellico Dam lawsuit are not included in the collection.

Collection URL: http://bakercenter.utk.edu/modern-political-archive/archival-collections/robert-l-taylor/

Digital Status: No

Extent: 40 boxes

Language: English

Rights (CRHP): Contact the repository which holds the collection for information on rights

Subjects:

African Americans--Civil rights--Tennessee
Civil rights movements--Tennessee
Civil rights--Cases
Clinton (Tenn.)
Judges
School integration--Tennessee--Clinton

Genres:

Interviews
Manuscripts
Photographs
Sound recordings
Speeches
Transcripts