Arthur J. Morris Law Library 580 Massie Road University of Virginia Charlottesville, Virginia 22903 archives@law.virginia.edu URL: http://archives.law.virginia.edu/
Professional papers mainly related to public utilities and the American Bar Association; academic files related to his teaching
at the University of Virginia School of Law and some personal files.
A native of Nebraska, A.J. Gustin Priest served as a sergeant of infantry during World War I. He earned his B.A. from the
University of Idaho, as well as a law degree there in 1921. He practiced law for five years in Boise before moving to New
York City for a position with a public utility holding company. After leaving for private practice in 1935, he gained a national
reputation representing public utility corporations while a partner in the firm of Reid and Priest. He joined the Virginia
law faculty in 1953, and retired from full-time teaching in 1966, continuing as a lecturer & scholar in residence until 1978.
With characteristic vigor, Priest threw himself into teaching, eager to impart his knowledge and expertise in corporate practice
to his students. He taught Public Utility Regulations, Corporations, Corporate Finance, Parliamentary Law and Corporate Securities.
A lawyer with deep integrity, Priest emphasized to his students the significance of high moral standards in the legal profession.
Priest devoted his considerable energy to a number of organizations and causes outside the legal professions, including the
world peace movement. He was the first chairman of the national executive council of the United World Federalists. He also
served as chairman of the Section of Public Utility Law of the American Bar Association, as president of the Phi Beta Kappa
Alumni in New York, and as national president of the Beta Theta Pi college fraternity. He received the Man of the Year award
from the United World Federalists and was a life member of the American Bar Foundation. He died in 1978.
Within the series, the correspondence has been filed and labeled as Priest had it, i.e., alphabetically by subject and then
chronologically. Items obviously misfiled have been put where they belong. Ambiguities and inconsistencies in the filing system
were a result of Priest's having had many secretaries, particularly after he began teaching. Consequently, the researcher
is advised to examine the whole series in areas of interests or the entire collection, if time permits.
Bunn, Charles - Priest's tribute upon his death. File also contains correspondence
1965-03
Mixed Materials [35007008623336] MSS 79-5 Box 27
Committee for the Defense of the Constitution By Preserving the Treaty Power - correspondence and draft of paper
1956
Mixed Materials [35007008623336] MSS 79-5 Box 27
Miscellaneous correspondence, speeches, and other materials. File includes: President Johnson's State of the Union Message
(1965-01-04); The Inaugural Address of President Lyndon Baines Johnson (1965-01-20); a letter of John Doar, DOJ to Priest
re events in Selma, Alabama (1965-03-17); and a thank you letter from Dorothy I. Height, National President of the National
Council of Negro Women, Inc. (1968-12-06)