>>> Item number 1087, dated 95/02/07 15:20:43 -- ALL
Date: Tue, 7 Feb 1995 15:20:43 -0600 Reply-To: H-Net and ASLH Legal History Discussion list <H-LAW@UICVM.BITNET> Sender: H-Net and ASLH Legal History Discussion list <H-LAW@UICVM.BITNET> From: Chris Waldrep <cfcrw@uxa.ecn.bgu.edu> Subject: _Briggs v. Elliot_
From: John P Jackson <jack0015@gold.tc.umn.edu>
I am working on my doctoral dissertation which concerns the social scientists involved in the School Segregation Cases of the early 1950s. I am trying to find a transcript of the trial _Briggs v. Elliot_ 98 F. Supp. 529 (EDSC 1951) which is, of course, one of the trials appealed to the Supreme Court and joined with _Brown v. Board_. After contacting the Clerk of the Court in South Carolina, I was directed to the National Archive in East Point, Georgia. The archivist there told me that he didn't have a transcript and that, as far as he knew, one doesn't exist. He said he had been looking for one for years. If this is true, then there is no transcript of one of the most famous and significant trials of the 20th century.
I was wondering if the subscribers to this list had any insight into this mystery. Where else can I look for this transcript? I am planning a research trip to the Library of Congress in March, is there some likely place in DC that one could be stashed away? Any comments or suggestions are welcomed.
John P. Jackson
Program in the History of Science and Technology
University of Minnesota
2111 Old Bainbridge Road
Tallahassee, FL 32303-3904
(904) 386-7282
Internet: jack0015@gold.tc.umn.edu
>>> Item number 1088, dated 95/02/07 21:23:26 -- ALL
Date: Tue, 7 Feb 1995 21:23:26 -0600 Reply-To: H-Net and ASLH Legal History Discussion list <H-LAW@UICVM.BITNET> Sender: H-Net and ASLH Legal History Discussion list <H-LAW@UICVM.BITNET> From: Chris Waldrep <cfcrw@uxa.ecn.bgu.edu> Subject: Briggs v. Elliot
From: "Hendrik A. Hartog" <hartog@phoenix.Princeton.EDU>
This is a perennial problem, as many of us have discovered. The one
suggestion I might make is to get the names of the lawyers who tried the
case from the published decision, and then trace their firms and
successor firms. The one thing going for you is that lawyers tend never
to throw anything away.
Good luck,
Dirk Hartog
hartog@princeton.edu
From: mwidener@mail.law.utexas.edu (Mike Widener)
Mr. Jackson (and other interested parties): There is a bound "Transcript of Record" for Briggs v. Elliott (October Term 1953, No. 2) in the Tom C. Clark Papers, Tarlton Law Library, University of Texas at Austin. It includes a transcript of the trial in the Eastern District of South Carolina, as well as the exhibits, opinions, court orders, petitions, etc. I would think that the same transcript could be located in the papers of other Supreme Court Justices, some of which are at the Library of Congress. I believe a copy of this transcript would have been filed with the Clerk of the Supreme Court, as well.
MIKE WIDENER
Archivist/Rare Books Librarian
Tarlton Law Library, University of Texas at Austin
Internet: MWIDENER@MAIL.LAW.UTEXAS.EDU
>>> Item number 1090, dated 95/02/07 21:27:16 -- ALL
Date: Tue, 7 Feb 1995 21:27:16 -0600 Reply-To: H-Net and ASLH Legal History Discussion list <H-LAW@UICVM.BITNET> Sender: H-Net and ASLH Legal History Discussion list <H-LAW@UICVM.BITNET> From: Chris Waldrep <cfcrw@uxa.ecn.bgu.edu> Subject: Re: _Briggs v. Elliot_
From: "Mark Graber" <MGRABER@bss2.umd.edu>
Try the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Inc. which brought the case. Their main office in in New York.
Mark A. Graber
mgraber@bss2.umd.edu
>>> Item number 1092, dated 95/02/08 09:32:23 -- ALL
Date: Wed, 8 Feb 1995 09:32:23 -0600 Reply-To: H-Net and ASLH Legal History Discussion list <H-LAW@UICVM.BITNET> Sender: H-Net and ASLH Legal History Discussion list <H-LAW@UICVM.BITNET> From: Chris Waldrep <cfcrw@uxa.ecn.bgu.edu> Subject: Re: Briggs v. Elliot
From: Ed Cray <cray@bcf.usc.edu>
I would suggest some (too?) obvious leads:
I once tracked down missing parts of a daily transcript by locating the court reporter -- who had kept her notes. But that was only five years, not 45.
Good luck, and let us know if you succeed in finding the transcript.
Ed Cray
>>> Item number 1094, dated 95/02/08 13:18:20 -- ALL
Date: Wed, 8 Feb 1995 13:18:20 -0600 Reply-To: H-Net and ASLH Legal History Discussion list <H-LAW@UICVM.BITNET> Sender: H-Net and ASLH Legal History Discussion list <H-LAW@UICVM.BITNET> From: Chris Waldrep <cfcrw@uxa.ecn.bgu.edu> Subject: Re: _Briggs v. Elliot_
From: "Cynthia L. Fountaine" <Cynthia.Fountaine@Law.UC.Edu>
Maybe a copy of the transcript was filed with the appeal at the Supreme Court. If so, maybe the Supreme Court has a library where these are kept. I don't know if such an archive exists, but it's an idea.
Cynthia L. Fountaine
College of Law
University of Cincinnati
Phone: (513) 556-4360
Fax: (513) 556-1236
E-mail: Cynthia.Fountaine@Law.UC.Edu
Editor's Note:
We've had a number of interesting responses to this query. I'm going to continue to post them so long as they come in on the theory that others seeking similar materials might be helped by these creative and resourceful solutions. Note, however, that in an earlier message we learned that the University of Texas at Austin has a bound copy of this transcript complete with exhibits.
>>> Item number 1106, dated 95/02/13 12:33:38 -- ALL
Date: Mon, 13 Feb 1995 12:33:38 -0600 Reply-To: H-Net and ASLH Legal History Discussion list <H-LAW@UICVM.BITNET> Sender: H-Net and ASLH Legal History Discussion list <H-LAW@UICVM.BITNET> From: Chris Waldrep <cfcrw@uxa.ecn.bgu.edu> Subject: Briggs v. Elliot
From: MichaelB <MichaelB@HUMANITIES1.COHUMS.OHIO-STATE.EDU>
Now that we know where a transcript is located, shouldn't we
do something to notify repositories that ought to have it
but don't--either to have a copy microfilmed or photocopied,
or at least to insert into the appropriate place in their
files where the transcript may be found?
Les Benedict
From: John P. Jackson <jack0015@gold.tc.umn.edu>
I would like to thank all those who responded to my queries about a transcript to the _Briggs_ trial. Thanks to you good people and your good ideas, I have what I need and I have it at a very small expense. Thanks again.
John P. Jackson
Program in the History of Science and Technology
University of Minnesota
Internet: jack0015@gold.tc.umn.edu
>>> Item number 1111, dated 95/02/13 18:39:37 -- ALL
Date: Mon, 13 Feb 1995 18:39:37 -0600 Reply-To: H-Net and ASLH Legal History Discussion list <H-LAW@UICVM.BITNET> Sender: H-Net and ASLH Legal History Discussion list <H-LAW@UICVM.BITNET> From: Chris Waldrep <cfcrw@uxa.ecn.bgu.edu> Subject: Re: Briggs v. Elliot
From: John P Jackson <jack0015@gold.tc.umn.edu>
In response to Les Benedict's concerns about notifying the appropriate archives as to the existence of the _Briggs_ transcript, I have already notified the archivist at the Regional National Archives in East Point, GA. According to the Clerk of the District Court, this is the archive that should have had the transcript. I should have made note of this in my original posting and I apologize for not doing so. Are there other places that should be contacted?
John Jackson