Inventory of the Papers of Armistead Mason Dobie 1902 (1939-1956) 1965
Collection Number MSS 78-2
A Collection in
The Arthur J. Morris Law Library, Special Collections

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© 2001 By the Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia. All rights reserved.

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Preferred Citation

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

Descriptive Summary

Repository: Special Collections, University of Virginia Law Library
Collection number: MSS 78-2
Title: Inventory of the Papers of Armistead Mason Dobie 1902 (1939-1956) 1965
Physical Characteristics: This collection consists of 15 boxes.
Language: English
Abstract: 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.

Scope and Content Information

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 Davis v. County School Board of Prince Edwardfor both the 1951 and 1955 hearings; also of interest is Judge Waties Waring's dissenting opinion on Davis' "sister" case, Briggs v. Elliott. The cases are arranged chronologically are followed by a box containing the dockets for the Fourth Circuit from 1948 to 1956.

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 Davis v. County School Board of Prince Edwardfor both the 1951 and 1955 hearings; also of interest is Judge Waties Waring's dissenting opinion on Davis' "sister" case, Briggs v. Elliott. The cases are arranged chronologically are followed by a box containing the dockets for the Fourth Circuit from 1948 to 1956.

Box fifteen 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.

Biographical/Historical Information

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 d'Academie with 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 drive for the Centennial Endowment Fund. The following year Dobie went to Harvard Law School and begin work on an S.J. D. In the summer of 1922 Dobie studied at Columbia's Graduate School of Jurisprudence and then returned to Charlottesville in time to begin the fall term.

At the time Dobie joined the faculty, the law school program increased from 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 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 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 along 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; only six time he dissented from his colleagues 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 reached on these cases reflected his firm belief that blacks should have facilities as nearly equal to whites as possible, and his reluctance or disinclination to go against the segregation pattern established by Plessy v. Ferguson.

Judge Dobie officially retired from the bench on the first of February, 1956 in bad 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, and he died at 81 on August 8, 1962.

Contents List

• General Correspondence A-L 1935-1957 Box: 1
  11 folders
• General Correspondence M-Y 1935-1957 Box: 2
  10 folders
• Miscellaneous Class Notes and Quizzes 1902-1928, n.d. Box: 2
  
• Notes on the Opera: Questions AMD submitted for the radio show "Texaco's Opera Quiz" [ca. 1940-1950] Box: 2
  
• Research Notes 1947, n.d. Box: 2
  
• Research Notes: Judges in Virginia 1947-1951 Box: 3
  
• Willliam H. White Lecture Series: District Judges in Virginia before the Civil War [ca. 1947] Box: 3
  
• Newspaper Clippings re AMD 1932-1963 Box: 3
  
• Administrative Law-Notes [1921] Box: 3
  
• History of the Law-Notes 1921 Box: 3
  
• Sales: Bound Class Notebooks 1921 Box: 3
  
• O.W. Holmes, Collected Legal Papers [ca. 1921] Box: 3
  Mimeographed copy in cardboard binder
• R. Pound, Readings in Roman Law and the Civil Law and Modern Codes as Developments Thereof, Part II [ca. 1921] Box: 3
  Mimeographed copy in cardboard binder
• A. M. Dobie, Writs [ca. 1921] Box: 3
  Mimeographed copy in cardboard binder
• Speeches, Articles, etc. A-F 1910-1956 Box: 4
  7 folders Subjects include: Alumni Address, American Legion, Armistice Day, New York Bar Association Address P. Barringer, G. B. Battle, J. C. Battle, Confederacy, Clark Hall, Conflict of State and Federal Judicial Power, Democratic Convention, Geo. B. Eager, Education, C. Glass G. Glenn
• Speeches, Articles, etc. H-Z 1922-1950 Box: 5
  14 folders Subjects include: Honor System, Harvard Law Review, Canada Dry "Information Please," Jurisdiction of the Supreme Court, "A Judge Judges Judges," Judicial Opinions, John C. Knox, "Law and Language," Dr. Lambeth, Robert E. Lee, "Law and Morals," McConnell Monument, Raleigh C. Minor, President Newcomb, Judge Northcott, General Pershing, Phi Delta Pi, Pre-Trial Practice, Raven Society, Roosevelt, "Succesful Justice," T.I.L.K.A., Tradition, "Spirit of Virginia," Virginia Law Review, George Wythe, Richard H. Wilson, W.H. White Portrait, "The Young Lawyer"
• Family Life Insurance Company v. John M. Daniel
• Records and Briefs 1948 Box: 6
  
• Correspondence 1948 Box: 6
  
• Dissenting Opinion by AMD 1948 Box: 6
  
• Brooks Transportation Co. v. U.S. and Interstate Commerce Commission
• Records and Briefs 1950 Box: 6
  2 folders
• Correspondence 1950-1951 Box: 6
  
• Coin Machine Acceptance Corp. v. Paul J. Yaeger 1950 Box: 6
  Motion
• Harold R. Love and U.S. v. D. E. Rippotoe, M. M. Rippotoe, Ruth Jackson, and Frank B. David 1950 Box: 6
  Notice of Motion
• Industrial Capital Corp. v. Tygart Valley Wood Products Corp. 1950 Box: 6
  Opinion
• Norfolk Southern Bus v. U.S. and Interstate Commerce Commission
• Records and Briefs 1950 Box: 6
  
• Correspondence 1950 Box: 7
  
• Opinion by AMD 1950 Box: 7
  
• Oltie W. Kennedy v. U.S. 1950 Box: 7
  Records and Briefs
• Panagiotis Christofis et al. for Mandamus 1950 Box: 7
  Correspondence and Opinion
• Robert W. Hart and Ellen Brown Hart v. U.S. 1950 Box: 7
  Records and Briefs
• Constance Carter v. the School Board of Arlington County 1950-1951 Box: 7
  Records, Briefs, Opinions, Correspondence
• Henry G. Bartson v. Harry D. Friedman 1950-1951 Box: 7
  Records and Briefs
• The Alabama Great Southern Railroad Co. v. U.S. 1951 Box: 7
  Records and Briefs
• Alexandria, Barcroft, and Washington Transit Co. v. U.S. 1951 Box: 7
  2 folders Records and Briefs
• Alexandria, Barcroft, and Washington Transit Co. v. U.S.-Correspondence 1951 Box: 7
  
• Andrew A. Kramer v. U.S. 1951 Box: 7
  Records, Briefs, Correspondence
• Charles C. Bartoli v. U.S. 1951 Box: 7
  Records, Briefs, Correspondence
• Consolidated Gas Electric Light and Power Company v. Penn. Water and Power Co. 1951 Box: 8
  Records and Briefs
• County Board of Arlington v. U.S.
• Records and Briefs 1951 Box: 8
  2 folders
• Correspondence 1951 Box: 8
  
• Craig Kugel v. Alfred Altschul 1951 Box: 8
  Records and Briefs
• Dorothy E. Davis, et al v. Prince Edward County School Board
• Records and Briefs 1951 Box: 8
  
• Correspondence 1951 Box: 8
  
• Earl T. Davis v. Clifton B. Cates 1951 Box: 8
  Records and Briefs
• George N. Mas and Frank M. Mas v. William Coleman 1951 Box: 8
  
• Harry Briggs Jr., et al v. R. W. Elliott, Chairman, et al
• Records and Briefs 1951 Box: 8
  
• Dissenting Opinion by Judge J. Waties Waring 1951 Box: 8
  
• Jesse Butler v. Mary A. Thompson
• Records and Briefs 1951 Box: 8
  
• Correspondence 1951 Box: 8
  
• Local 33B United Marine Division of I.L.A. v. Battle
• Records and Briefs 1951 Box: 9
  
• Correspondence 1951 Box: 9
  
• Mount, Trustee v. Norfolk Savings and Loan 1951 Box: 9
  Correspondence
• Mrs. Mae Owens Case v. State of Maryland 1951 Box: 9
  Correspondence
• National Labor Relations Boards v. Jegalock Fasteners, Inc. 1951 Box: 9
  Correspondence
• Pless v. U.S. 1951 Box: 9
  Correspondence
• Stewart-Warner Corp. v. National Labor Relations Board 1951 Box: 9
  Correspondence
• Virginia State Conference of Branches of the N.A.A.C.P. v. City of Richmond
• Records and Briefs 1951 Box: 9
  
• Correspondence 1951 Box: 9
  Correspondence
• Walter J. Kozdron-Petition for Writ of Mandamus; Correspondence 1951 Box: 9
  
• National Labor Relations Board v. Pugh and Barr, Inc. 1951-1952 Box: 9
  2 folders Records and Briefs
• Brooks Transportation Co. v. U.S. and Interstate Commerce Commission
• Records and Briefs 1951-1952 Box: 9
  2 folders
• Correspondence 1951-1952 Box: 9
  
• Clavin C. Upton, Jr. v. U.S. 1952 Box: 9
  Records and Briefs
• Emmett Haydon Bozell v. U.S. 1952 Box: 9
  Correspondence
• (F) 15.6136 Acres in Arlington County v. U.S. 1952 Box: 9
  Records and Briefs
• George A. Meyers v. U.S. 1952 Box: 9
  Records and Briefs
• Harold Bernstein v. U.S. 1952 Box: 9
  Records and Briefs
• Houff Transfer, Inc. v. U.S. and Interstate Commerce Commission
• Records and Briefs 1952 Box: 9
  2 folders
• Correspondence 1952 Box: 9
  
• Jerome Weiss v. Loyal M. Haynes 1952 Box: 9
  Records and Correspondence
• National Labor Relations Board v. Coca-Cola Bottling Co. of Asheville, N.C. 1952 Box: 10
  Correspondence
• National Labor Relations Board v. Collier Construction Co. 1952 Box: 10
  Correspondence
• National Labor Relations Board v. Pepsi-Cola Parkensburg Bottlers, Inc. 1952 Box: 10
  Records and Briefs
• National Labor Relations Board v. Roger Williams Shirt Corp. n.d. [1952] Box: 10
  Letter
• National Labor Relations Board v. Tec. Optical Products Corp. 1952 Box: 10
  Letter
• Robert Henry Bugg v. Seaboard Air Line Railroad Co. 1952 Box: 10
  Brief and Memorandum
• Samuel Kelley v. U.S. 1952 Box: 10
  Records and Briefs
• Smith's Transfer and Co. v. U.S. and Interstate Commerce Commission 1952 Box: 10
  2 folders Correspondence
• U.S. ex rel Weiss v. Haynes 1952 Box: 10
  Correspondence
• U.S. v. Jack Court 1952 Box: 10
  Records and Briefs
• William H. Ward v. U.S. 1952 Box: 10
  Records and Briefs
• U.S. v. Wayman C. Hamilton 1952-1953 Box: 10
  Records, Briefs, Correspondence
• Anna Mae Allen v. Southern Railway Co.
• Records and Briefs 1953 Box: 10
  2 folders
• Correspondence 1953 Box: 10
  
• Badgett Trucking Co. v. U.S. 1953 Box: 10
  Records and Correspondence
• Chesapeak and Ohio Railway Co.: I.C.C. Reports 1953 Box: 10
  
• Earl T. Ellis v. Clifton B. Cates 1953 Box: 11
  Records and Briefs
• Edward D. Shaver v. Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad Co.-and R. H. Bugg et al. vs, Seaboard Airline Railroad Co. 1953 Box: 11
  Correspondence
• Henry Heil and J. Henry v. Orla E. Watson and Telescope Carts 1953 Box: 11
  Correspondence
• James E. Pythress v. Frank Pace, Jr. 1953 Box: 11
  Records and Briefs
• Meacham Corp v. U.S. 1953 Box: 11
  Records and Briefs
• Ralph H. Witt v. William C. Merrill 1953 Box: 11
  Records and Briefs
• Robert Henry Bugg v. Seaboard Airline Railroad Co.
• Records and Briefs 1953 Box: 11
  
• Correspondence 1953 Box: 11
  
• Samuel Cummins v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue 1953 Box: 11
  Correspondence
• United Fuel Gas Co. v. Public Service Commission 1953 Box: 11
  Correspondence
• U.S. v. C. W. Sullivan, M. L. Silver Farb and C. E. Heath 1953 Box: 11
  Records and Briefs
• U.S. v. James Russell McGregor 1953 Box: 11
  Records and Briefs
• Badgett Trucking Co. v. U.S.
• Records and Briefs 1954 Box: 11
  
• Correspondence 1954 Box: 11
  
• Opinion by AMD 1954 Box: 11
  
• Badgett Trucking Co. v. U.S. and W. Va. Motor Truck Association v. Public Service Commission
• Correspondence 1954 Box: 11
  
• Pre-trial Conference Transcript 1954 Box: 11
  
• Chesapeake and Ohio Railway Co. vs, Henry L. Burton 1954 Box: 11
  Brief
• Appeal of Edmund C. Fletcher on a charge of Criminal Contempt 1954 Box: 11
  Records, Briefs, Correspondence
• Frank M. Ellison, Jr. v. the Space River Coal Co. 1954 Box: 11
  Records and Briefs
• The Jewel Shop of Abbeville, S.C. v. R. C. Pitts 1954 Box: 11
  Records and Briefs
• John L. Greene v. Charles R. Fenwick
• Records and Briefs 1954 Box: 12
  
• Correspondence 1954 Box: 12
  
• Opinion 1954 Box: 12
  
• Samuel R. Beard v. U.S. 1954 Box: 12
  Records, Briefs, and Correspondence
• Seaboard Airline Railroad Co. v. United States and Interstate Commerce Commission 1954 Box: 12
  Records and Briefs
• Seaboard Airline Railroad Co. v. U.S. 1954 Box: 12
  
• Seaboard Airline Railroad Co. v. U.S. 1954 Box: 12
  Correspondence
• United States v. E.L. Klingstein 1954 Box: 12
  Records and Briefs
• U.S. v. Joseph C. Dunford 1954 Box: 12
  Records and Briefs
• United States v. One 1950-1951 Ford, Van Type One and One-half Ton Truck 1954 Box: 12
  Brief
• Washington Coca-Cola Bottling Works Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board 1954 Box: 12
  Records and Briefs
• West Virginia Motor Trucking Association v. Public Service Commission of W. Va.
• Records and Briefs 1954 Box: 12
  
• Correspondence 1954 Box: 12
  
• Opinions, one by AMD 1954 Box: 12
  Handwritten draft and carbon
• Wilby Kincey Service Corp. v. Sherry Wilson 1954 Box: 12
  Correspondence
• Barton Duer and Koch Paper Co. v. Federal Trade Commission 1955 Box: 12
  Records and Briefs
• Bettie Low McCoy v. U.S. 1955 Box: 12
  Records
• Director of the U.S. Bureau of Mines v. Three Fork Coal Co. 1955 Box: 12
  Records and Correspondence
• Dorothy E. Davis v. Prince Edward County School Board 1955 Box: 12
  Records and Briefs
• Dorothy E. Davis et al. v. Prince Edward County Board 1955 Box: 12
  Correspondence
• E. I. DuPont de Nemours Co. v. Leo Hall 1955 Box: 13
  Records and Briefs
• Frank Ellison, Jr. v. Spruce River Coal Co. 1955 Box: 13
  Records and Briefs
• Group of Boston and Providence Railroad Corp. Stockholders v. Interstate Commerce Commission
• Records and Briefs 1954-1955 Box: 13
  2 folders
• Correspondence 1954-1955 Box: 13
  
• Harry Briggs, Jr. et al. v. R. W. Elliott et al
• Records and Briefs 1955 Box: 13
  
• Correspondence 1955 Box: 13
  
• Helen Clyburn, et al. v. Carolina Mining and Exploration Co. 1955 Box: 13
  Records
• Hillard Saunders v. U.S. 1955 Box: 13
  Records and Briefs
• Ivan M. Halt v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue 1955 Box: 13
  Record
• John Wesley Hamman v. U.S. 1955 Box: 13
  Record
• Junius Irving Scales v. U.S. 1955 Box: 13
  Records, Briefs, Correspondence
• Leonard Sykes, Jr. v. U.S. 1955 Box: 13
  Records, Briefs, Correspondence
• Leroy B. Frazier, Jr. et al. v. Board of Trustees of University of North Carolina
• Records and Briefs 1955 Box: 13
  
• Correspondence 1955 Box: 14
  
• Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Co. v. Albert A. Shugler 1955 Box: 14
  Records and Briefs
• Norvin Rieser, et al. v. Baltimore and Ohio Railway Company 1955 Box: 14
  Record
• Robins Paper Co. v. Federal Trade Commission 1955 Box: 14
  Records and Briefs
• Sarah A. Walker v. Harry A. L. Baker 1955 Box: 14
  Records
• S. L. Gardner v. Glens Falls Indemnity Co. 1955 Box: 14
  Records
• United States v. Coley Roby Johnson 1955 Box: 14
  Records
• Annie Mary Timmons v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue 1956 Box: 14
  Record
• Belden R. Reap, Sr. v. Stephen James 1956 Box: 14
  Records and Briefs
• Dorothy E. Davis et al. v. Prince Edward County School Board 1956 Box: 14
  Records and Correspondence
• Evangelos Papanikolaou v. Atlantic Lines 1956 Box: 14
  Records and Briefs
• John Sakkas v. V. Goulandris 1955 Box: 14
  Record
• Smith v. Biggs 1955 Box: 14
  Letter
• U.S. v. Carl V. Wacker and Norman Bebik 1956 Box: 14
  Records and Briefs
• United States v. Kramer 1956 Box: 14
  Notes
• William H. Jackson v. U.S. District Court, Baltimore, Md. 1956 Box: 14
  Records
• Albert Jefferson Lawson, Bankruptcy No. 575
• Records 1956-1957 Box: 14
  
• Records and Briefs 1956-1957 Box: 14
  
• Correspondence 1956-1957 Box: 14
  
• Dockets for the Fouth Circuit Cout of Appeals 1948-1956 Boxes: 14-15
  
• Condemnation Rule 1947-1948 Boxes: 14-15
  
• Order Amending a Rule, Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals 1953 Box: 14-15
  
• U.S. Supreme Court Advisory Committee on Rules of Civil Procedure. Tentative Draft III 1936 Boxes: 14-15
  1 three-ring notebook
• U.S. Supreme Court Advisory Committee on Rules of Civil Procedure. Tentative Draft II 1936 Boxes: 14-15
  1 three-ring notebook
• U.S. Supreme Court Advisory Committee of Rules of Civil Procedure-Report 1937 Boxes: 14-15
  1 three-ring notebook
• Judicial Conference of the U.S. Committee on the Operation of the Jury System. The Jury System of the Federal Courts. 1960 Boxes: 14-15
  1 three-ring notebook Preliminary Draft