Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

Collection is open to research.

Use Restrictions

Because the library is not open to the general public, researchers should contact the library to arrange access to the collection.

Preferred Citation

Audio Recordings of Court Ceremonies, 1969-2005, Accession #00028358, Supreme Court of Virginia Archives, Virginia State Law Library, Richmond.

Acquisition Information

These records were transferred from the Office of the Executive Secretary to the Virginia State Law Library in 2005.

Processing Information

Original sound recordings on reel-to-reel tapes and audiocassettes were digitized in 2013 for preservation and access.

Biographical/Historical Information

The Supreme Court of Appeals of Virginia was created by an act of the new General Assembly in 1779. Its jurisdiction was primarily appellate, and its members were elected by the legislature. The Constitution of 1971 changed the name of the court to its present title of Supreme Court of Virginia.

In 1983, the General Assembly created an intermediate appellate court, the Court of Appeals of Virginia, effective January 1, 1985. It provides appellate review of final decisions of the circuit courts in domestic relations matters, appeals from decisions of an administrative agency, traffic infractions and criminal cases, except where a sentence of death has been imposed. It also hears appeals of final decisions of the Virginia Workers' Compensation Commission. The Court of Appeals consists of eleven judges. The court sits in panels of at least three judges, and the membership of the panels is rotated. The court sits at such locations as the chief judge designates, so as to provide convenient access to the various geographic areas of the Commonwealth.

Scope and Content

The collection contains audio recordings of Supreme Court of Virginia ceremonies, 1969-2005; and Court of Appeals of Virginia ceremonies, 1985-1989. The ceremonies took place in the courtrooms of the Supreme Court of Virginia and the Court of Appeals of Virginia in Richmond.

The Supreme Court of Virginia ceremonies are investitures and portrait presentation ceremonies, 1969-1985; the bicentennial of the court in 1979, and the dedication of the Supreme Court Building in 1981. They include recordings of the investitures of Justice John Charles Thomas, the first African American justice of the court, in 1983; and Elizabeth B. Lacy, the first woman justice on the court, in 1989.

The collection also contains recordings of three Court of Appeals of Virginia ceremonies: the swearing-in ceremony of the first court, in 1985; the swearing-in ceremony for Judge Jere M.H. Willis, Jr.,1989; and the portrait presentation for E. Ballard Baker, first Chief Judge, in 1986.

Supreme Court of Virginia investitures, 1969-2000:

Investitures of George M. Cochran and Alexander M. Harman, 1969 Oct. 1 (24 minutes). Remarks by Justice Lawrence W. I'Anson honoring Chief Justice Harold Snead, who was sworn in as Chief Justice earlier that day, followed by the investitures of Cochran and Harman, with Justice Snead presiding. Remarks by Howard C. Gilmer, Harman's former law partner.

Investiture of Richard H. Poff, 1972 Aug. 30 (11 minutes, 49 seconds). Chief Justice Harold Snead, presiding; remarks by former Governor William M. Tuck and the Hon. Lewis F. Powell, Associate Justice, U.S. Supreme Court.

Investiture of Roscoe B. Stephenson, 1981 Mar. 2 (23 minutes). Chief Justice Harry L. Carrico, presiding; remarks by William S. Moffatt, Chief Judge, 25th Judicial Circuit; presentation of resolutions honoring Stephenson.

Investiture of John Charles Thomas, 1983 Apr. 25 (34 minutes, 28 seconds). Chief Justice Harry L. Carrico, presiding; remarks by Governor Charles S. Robb, T.S. Ellis, III; Dennis C. Montgomery, and Justice Thomas; presentation of resolutions honoring Thomas.

Investiture of Elizabeth B. Lacy, 1989 Jan. 4 (25 minutes 52 seconds). Chief Justice Harry L. Carrico, presiding; invocation and benediction by William G. Broaddus; remarks by Governor Gerald L. Baliles and Justice Lacy; presentation of resolutions honoring Lacy.

Investiture of Leroy Rountree Hassell, Jr., 1989 Dec. 28 (26 minutes, 30 seconds). Chief Justice Harry L. Carrico, presiding; remarks by Governor Gerald L. Baliles and Justice Hassell; presentation of resolutions honoring Hassell.

Investiture of Donald W. Lemons, 2000 Apr. 3 (45 minutes). Chief Justice Harry L. Carrico, presiding; remarks by State Senator Walter Stosch, Governor James S. Gilmore, and Justice Lemons; presentation of resolutions honoring Lemons.

Investiture of Patricia Harrington Krueger as Clerk of the Supreme Court of Virginia, 2003 Aug. 27 (audiocassette only). Chief Justice Leroy Hassell, presiding. Invocation by The Reverend Samuel Worley. Remarks by David B. Beach and Chief Justice Hassell. A transcript of this ceremony is published in 266 Virginia Reports, ix-xi.

Investiture of Karl Robert Hade as Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court of Virginia, 2005 Sep. 12. Chief Justice Hassell, presiding. A transcript of this ceremony is published in 270 Virginia Reports, xxv-xxvii.

Supreme Court of Virginia portrait presentation ceremonies, 1980-2005:

Portrait presentation for Justice Archibald B. Buchanan, 1980 Apr. 17 (14 minutes, 22 seconds). Chief Justice I'Anson, presiding; remarks by Justice Alexander Harman. A transcript of the ceremony is published in 223 Virginia Reports, p. xi.

Portrait presentation for retired Chief Justice Harold Snead, 1982 Jun. 16 (50 minutes, 38 seconds). Chief Justice Harry L. Carrico, presiding; remarks by William B. Poff, Chief Justice Lawrence W. I'Anson, and Governor Charles S. Robb. A transcript of the ceremony is published in 223 Virginia Reports, p. xix.

Portrait presentation for retired Chief Justice Lawrence W. I'Anson, 1983 June 15 (45 minutes, 14 seconds). Chief Justice Harry L. Carrico, presiding; remarks by Governor John Dalton, Virginia Senator Edward E. Willey, former Governor Mills E. Godwin, and others. A transcript of the ceremony is published in 225 Virginia Reports, p. vii.

Portrait presentation for retired justice George M. Cochran, 1989 Apr. 20 (50 minutes). Chief Justice Carrico, presiding. Remarks by former Governor and retired Justice Albertis S. Harrison, former Governor Mills E. Godwin, read by retired Chief Justice I'Anson, and others. A transcript of the ceremony is published in 238 Virginia Reports, p. ix.

Portrait presentation for Justices Richard H. Poff, W. Carrington Thompson, and Henry Hudson Whiting, 2005 Nov. 1 (11 minutes, 37 seconds). Chief Justice Leroy Hassell, presiding. A transcript of the ceremony is published in 271 Virginia Reports, ix.

Other Supreme Court of Virginia ceremonies:

Ceremony commemorating the bicentennial of the founding of the Supreme Court of Virginia, 1979 Aug. 30 (29 minutes). Chief Justice Lawrence W. I'Anson, presiding; remarks by Governor John Dalton, Chief Justice I'Anson, and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Lewis Powell, Jr., read by his son, Lewis Powell III. The ceremony includes the presentation of the portrait of Henry Tazewell, who served on the court from 1785 to 1788 and 1793 to 1794. A transcript of the ceremony is published in 220 Virginia Reports, p. ix.

Dedication of the Supreme Court of Virginia Building, 1981 Dec. 4 (35 minutes, 18 seconds). Chief Justice Harry L. Carrico, presiding; remarks by Delegate George E. Allen, Jr., State Senator Edward E. Willey, Governor John N. Dalton, and Chief Justice Carrico.

Swearing-in ceremony for Elizabeth B. Lacy, Judge, State Corporation Commission, 1985 Apr. 1 (18 minutes). Henry L. Carrico, Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Virginia, presiding; remarks by Governor Charles S. Robb, Judge Thomas P. Harwood, Jr., member, State Corporation Commission, Commissioner Lacy, and Attorney General Gerald S. Baliles. Commission read by G. Patrick Lacy.

Court of Appeals of Virginia ceremonies, 1985-1989:

Swearing-in ceremony for the first judges on the Court of Appeals of Virginia, 1985 Jan. 4 (30 minutes, 4 seconds). Chief Judge E. Ballard Baker, presiding; remarks by William D. Dolan, III, President, Virginia State Bar; Harry L. Carrico, Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Virginia; Edward Willey, President Pro Tempore, Senate of Virginia; Delegate Theodore V. Marsden, Jr.; and Governor Charles S. Robb.

Swearing-in ceremony for Jere H. Willis, Judge, Court of Appeals of Virginia, and recognition of the service of retiring Judge William H. Hodges, 1989 Oct. 26 (22 minutes, 4 seconds, partially inaudible). Chief Judge Koontz, presiding.

Portrait presentation for E. Ballard Baker, first Chief Judge, Court of Appeals of Virginia, 1986 May 5 (19 minutes). Chief Judge Lawrence Koontz, presiding; remarks by Chief Judge Koontz, Governor Gerald L. Baliles, Harry L. Carrico, Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Virginia; James C. Roberts, past president, Virginia State Bar; and Billy Jane Baker, widow of Judge Baker. Transcript available.