FRANK MINIS JOHNSON, JR. COLLECTION CONTENTS
Compiled by David I. Durham, Archivist, Bounds Law Library, December 2000.
CORRESPONDENCE:
-Folder containing correspondence concerning the Collection.
-Letter (photocopy)–dated August 1, 1995 from President Bill Clinton to
President Emeritus of the University of Notre Dame, The Reverend Theodore
M. Hesburgh concerning Hesburgh’s recommendation of Johnson for the
Presidential Medal of Freedom.
-Letter (photocopy)–dated August 9, 1995 from Theodore M. Hesburgh to Frank
M. Johnson, Jr. congratulating Johnson on winning the Presidential Medal of
Freedom Award; also included President Clinton’s letter to Hesburgh.
-Letter–dated October 10, 1995 from Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan to Frank
M. Johnson, Jr. relating the history of the Presidential Medal of Freedom Award
and congratulating Johnson on receiving it.
SCRAPBOOKS:
The scrapbook collection consists of seven, sixteen-by-eighteen inch scrapbooks, and one envelope containing loose pages. The scrapbooks contain newspaper clippings, political cartoons, photographs, pamphlets, letters, and memorabilia from Johnson’s career. The collection spans the years 1955 through 1995, and focuses on the judicial, political, and civil rights experiences which defined Judge Johnson’s long and distinguished career. Items such as original photographic prints of civil rights-era violence, various examples of Ku Klux Klan printed materials including a fifth edition copy of the Kloran, Judge Johnson’s identification badge as United States District Judge for the Middle District of Alabama, and his identification as United States Circuit Judge for the Fifth Circuit are a sample of the unique items which are included in this collection.
The scrapbooks are labeled and contain loosely-organized topical titles as follows:
1. Hon. Frank M. Johnson, Jr. 1955-1965 United States District Judge
-Johnsons Serve Their Country Well in WWII
-Advertiser: Johnson “Undistinguished” and “Tendency to be
Erratic” (1955)
-Nomination for Middle District Judgeship (1955)
-Up-and-Comer Sworn-in as District Judge (1955)
-Browder v. Gayle: Segregation of Montgomery Buses
Unconstitutional (1956)
-Cross Burned in Judge’s Yard (1957)
-Wallace Refuses to Turn Over Voting Records (1958)
-Wallace Acquitted: Fighting Judge is Fighting Mad
-5th Circuit OK’s Judge’s Use of Women on Juries (1959)
-Tuskegee Gerrymandering Case (1958)
-Judge to Macon County: Allow Blacks to Vote (1960)
-U.S. Must Appear in All Civil Rights Cases (1961)
-Judge Nixes Freedom Rides, Violence
-The Federal Judiciary as a Campaign Issue: the Gubernatorial
Campaign of 1962.
-3 Judge Panel Orders Alabama Legislature Re-Apportioned (1962)
-Federal Troops Needed to Integrate Public Schools (1963)
-Auburn University Begins De-Segregation (1964)
-Battle to Integrate Tuskegee Schools (1964)
-Wallace Trashes Johnson: Macon County Integration Order “Rash
and Vindictive”
-Notasulga School Integration Ordered: Violence Ensues
-Wallace Opens Door to Statewide School Integration
-Selma March: Decline and Rise of Rule of Law (1965)
-Judge Wins Rare Applause: Declines Jurisdiction Over Blacks
Arrested in Selma March
-Debate Over Civil Disobedience: Judge Disapproves
-FMJ, Sr. Passes On
-KKKer’s Convicted after Judge’s Dynamite Charge: Defendants
Given the Max
2. Hon. Frank M. Johnson, Jr. 1966-1978 United States District Judge
-Lowndes Count Schools Integrated
-Poll Tax Nixed by 3 Judge Panel; Rives and Johnson (Again) Lead
the Way
-Dynamite Rocks House of Mrs. FMJ, Sr.; Judge’s Mom Unperturbed
-Judge Goes National: Hits Cover of TIME
-Montgomery Schools Told: Pick Up the Pace on Integration
-Judge Tells KKK to Stop Interference with School Desegregation
-Auburn Ban on Speaker Struck Down by Judge; Advertiser Decries
Order as “Appalling”
-Supreme Court Beckons...Then Rebuffs
-Alabama Property Tax Struck Down (1971)
-Wyatt v. Stickney: Judge Makes Landmark Ruling; Mental
Hospitals Reformed
-Montgomery School Desegregation: Judge Rejects Busing
-Judge Celebrates 20th Anniversary on Bench
-Judge Confronts Inhumane Prison Conditions; Wallace (Again)
Claims Federal Usurpation
-“ Real Governor” of Alabama? (1976)
-The Beginning of the End of Wyatt v. Stickney
-Carter Considers Judge for Cabinet (1976)
-Alabama State [University] Discriminates on Basis of Race, Judge Says
3. Hon. Frank M. Johnson, Jr. 1975-1976 United States District Judge
-Judge Takes Strong Stance in Prison Case
-Alabama Admits: Our Prisons Are Cruel and Unusual Punishment
-Wallace Decries Prison Order as Creating “Hotel Atmosphere;”
Suggests “Barbed-Wire Enema for Judge
-Judge Talks Back: Prison Order will Not Create Hotel
-Judge Lauded at Law Day, 1976
4. Nomination as Director of the FBI [1977]
5. Hon. Frank M. Johnson, Jr. 1978-1983 United States District Judge
-Judge Speaks at University of Montevallo (1978)
-Johnson Pens Bowers, Adding to Inventory of Landmark Cases (1985)
-Alabama Punts No More: Gov. James Takes Over as Receiver of
Prison System (1979)
-RFK, Jr. Biography
-5th Circuit Beckons: Judge Easily Makes the Cut
-End of an Era: Judge Presides Over Last Trial and is (Still) Tough
and Fair (1979)
-Gains Membership to Alabama Academy of Honor
-Johnson’s Identification Badge as United States District Judge for
the Middle District of Alabama
-Gov. James Named Receiver of Mental Health System (1980)
-Yale Confers Honorary Degree (1980)
-Judge Star of the Small Screen in Bill Moyers’ Interview (1980)
-Judge Speaks at Tuskegee Institute (1980)
-Thompson Fills Big Shoes, Replaces Johnson as District Judge (1980)
-Eleventh Circuit Opens for Business (1981) [includes opening
ceremonies literature and Judge Johnson’s, United States Circuit
Judge for the Fifth Circuit, badge]
6. Hon. Frank M. Johnson, Jr. 1984-1985 United States Circuit Judge
-Judge Pockets Prestigious Edward J. Devitt Award (1984)
-Letters from Eleventh Circuit Judges
-Letters from Fifth Circuit Judges
-Letters from United States District Judges [includes a copy of Judge
Johnson’s 1984 curriculum vitae–within Varner and Pittman letters]
-Letters from United States Magistrates
-Letters from Alabama Supreme Court Justices
-Letters from Alabama Bar Association Members
-Devitt Award Letters of Congratulations and Articles
-Thirty Years on the Bench...and Still Going Strong (1985)
7. Hon. Frank M. Johnson, Jr. 1986-1993 U. S. Circuit Judge
-Baxley/Graddick Gubernatorial Election Controversy (1986)
-Avoids Impeachment for Granting Stays of Execution
-George Wallace: End of Term Retrospectives (1986)
-Mandamus in Asbestos Class Action (1988)
-Mobile County Textbook Ban Case (1987)
-Photographs of “Old” Courthouse in Birmingham, 1988
-Reversal of Judge Acker in KKK Case (1988)
-Jager School Prayer Case (1989)
-Golden Eagle Statesman Award (1990)
-Retirement from Active Service (1991)
-Dedication of Frank M. Johnson, Jr. Courthouse (1992)
-Selection of Ed Carnes to Fill 11th Circuit Vacancy
-Biographies: Taming the Storm & The Judge
-Envelope containing five loose scrapbook pages highlighting Johnson’s award of
the Presidential Medal of Freedom; and a copy of the State of Alabama
proclamation of the Frank M. Johnson, Jr. Day, July 11, 1995.
AUDIOTAPE AND VIDEOTAPES:
-The Achievement Television Network, Lessons of Leadership (videotape)
-Across America: A Lion for Liberty, Judge Frank M. Johnson, Jr. (videotape)
-America and the Courts. A Lecture by Judge Frank M. Johnson, Jr. at Southern
Methodist University Law School, January 19, 1989 (videotape)
-American South Comes of Age: Impact of the Courts (videotape)
-An Interview with Ruth Johnson, February 2000 (-2- videotapes)
-An Interview with Ruth Johnson, November 2000 (audiotape)
NOTE: The FRANK M. JOHNSON, JR. COLLECTION is stored in the Special Collections
Payne stacks.