Lewis R. Morgan Papers
Collection DescriptionBiographical NoteLewis Render "Pete" Morgan was born on July 14, 1913, in LaGrange, Georgia. He attended the University of Michigan from 1930 to 1932 and received his LL.B. from the University of Georgia School of Law in 1935. Morgan was admitted to the Georgia bar that same year. Morgan served two terms as a representative from Troup County (LaGrange) in the Georgia General Assembly from 1937 to 1939. In 1939, he resigned from the General Assembly to serve as campaign manager and executive secretary for U.S. Representative Albert Sidney Camp until 1942. Morgan attained the rank of corporal in the U.S. Army Signal Corps, Intelligence, during his service from 1942 to 1943. After World War II, Morgan served as city attorney for the City of LaGrange until 1946 and as county attorney for Troup County from 1957 to 1961. Morgan was a partner of the Wyatt and Morgan law firm in LaGrange from 1935 until 1961. On July 16, 1961, President John F. Kennedy appointed Morgan to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. Morgan served in this position from August 10, 1961 to August 1, 1968, serving as chief judge from April 21, 1965 to August 1, 1968. On July 10, 1968, President Lyndon B. Johnson nominated him to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. Although considered by President Richard Nixon for the Supreme Court in 1971, Morgan was not nominated and remained in the Fifth Circuit. He took senior status on September 1, 1978. When the Fifth Circuit split into two federal circuits on October 1, 1981, Morgan joined the newly formed Eleventh Circuit and served as a senior judge until 1996. Morgan served on both the Judicial Conference of the United States and on circuit committees during his judicial career. From 1968 to 1975, Morgan served on the Budget Committee of the Judicial Conference of the United States. He was also a member of the Special Division of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals for Appointing Independent Council from 1978 to 1988. From 1986 to 1987, he served as judge for the Temporary Emergency Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia District, created by the Ethics in Government Act. Throughout his professional life, Morgan was the recipient of several honors. In 1957, he received the LaGrange Distinguished Service Award from the LaGrange Chamber of Commerce. He was awarded the University of Georgia Law School Association's Distinguished Service Award in 1974, and honorary degrees from Atlanta School of Law in 1963 and LaGrange College in 1977. In 1999, the federal building in Newnan, Georgia was named The Lewis R. Morgan Federal Building and United States Court House in his honor. Morgan actively participated in legal, educational, civic, and avocational organizations. He was an active member of the Georgia Bar Association from 1950 to 1961. He served as president of the Coweta Circuit Bar Association from 1956 to 1957 and again from 1960 to 1961. Morgan was a member of the University of Georgia Law School Board of Visitors from 1970 to 1973, and also served on the Board of Trustees of LaGrange College in LaGrange, Georgia. He was a member of the LaGrange Jaycees, 1936-1940; the Quarterback Club in LaGrange; Chi Psi fraternity; Phi Delta Phi legal fraternity; and while an active judge, a regular participant in the Judicial Invitational Golf Classic. He was a member of the First Presbyterian Church of LaGrange. He married Sue Lorraine Phillips on July 29, 1944, and they had two children, Pat and Ann. Morgan died on November 15, 2001, in LaGrange, Georgia. Scope and ContentThe collection consists of Judge Morgan's chambers papers (non-official papers; official papers are available at the National Archives' regional facilities: District Court records, Atlanta, Georgia; Fifth Circuit Court records, Fort Worth, Texas; Eleventh Circuit Court records, Atlanta, Georgia). The papers document Morgan's service as U.S. District Judge, 1961-1968 (chief judge, 1965-1968) and U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge, 1968-1981, and U.S. Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, 1981-1996. Morgan served as a federal judge during a period of significant change in the United States and his federal circuit, and he presided over literally thousands of cases that comprise the bulk of this collection. Case files typically include, but are not limited to: briefs, motions, and other materials submitted from the parties involved in the case or that are generated in the legal process; majority opinions written by Judge Morgan, but also other judges (most opinions in this collection were written by Judge Morgan); concurring or dissenting opinions by Judge Morgan or other judges; memoranda written by law clerks for the purpose of informing the judge about the facts and history of the case; correspondence and notes exchanged between judges; correspondence with West Publishing Co.; Judge Morgan's notes regarding the case (scant; see dockets for most notes). Additional materials in the collection include: dockets, correspondence, charge books and notes, bound opinions, committee files, newspaper articles, maps, and photographs. Highlights of the collection include highly publicized cases, such as Wallace Butts v. Curtis Publishing Co., a libel case involving University of Georgia football coach Wally Butts in 1963, and mail bomber Walter LeRoy Moody's case, Moody v. U.S.A., in 1989. In both District and Appellate courts Morgan interpreted and applied civil rights legislation. Morgan heard some early civil rights cases in Three-Judge Court (Series III, Subseries A) from 1961 to 1978. Notable cases include Heart of Atlanta Motel, Inc. v. United States; Julian Bond, et al. v. James "Sloppy" Floyd, et al.; Willis, Lewis, Kennedy v. The Pickrick and Lester Maddox; Calvin Turner, et al. v. Kenneth Goolsby, et al. In Series II. School Cases, Morgan addressed the complexities of administering school integration in his circuit's states from 1968 to 1978. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals judges experienced increased case workload during the 1960s and 1970s, and Morgan participated in the growing pains of the circuit and its eventual split into two federal circuits in 1981. Files documenting the changes in the circuit and its eventual split are located in the Administrative series (I), under subseries G, Fifth Circuit Expansion and Realignment. Organization and ArrangementPapers are organized into five series: I. Administrative, II. School Cases, III. Judicial Panels, IV. Special Cases, V. Photographs, and VI. Audiovisual Materials. Each series is further organized by subseries or topical heading. Specific arrangements for each series and subseries are described in the series descriptions. Administrative InformationPreferred CitationLewis R. Morgan Papers, Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies, University of Georgia Libraries, Athens, Georgia, 30602-1641. User RestrictionsLibrary acts as "fair use" reproduction agent. Copyright InformationBefore material from collections at the Richard B. Russell Library may be quoted in print, or otherwise reproduced, in whole or in part, in any publication, permission must be obtained from (1) the owner of the physical property, and (2) the holder of the copyright. It is the particular responsibility of the researcher to obtain both sets of permissions. Persons wishing to quote from materials in the Russell Library collection should consult the Director. Reproduction of any item must contain a complete citation to the original. Finding Aid PublicationFinding aid prepared on: September 2008. Related Materials and SubjectsSubject TermsRelated Collections in this Repository
Richard B. Russell, Jr. Collection Related Collections in Other RepositoriesU.S. District Court Records, NARA, Atlanta, Georgia Fifth Circuit Court Records, NARA, Forth Worth, Texas Eleventh Circuit Court Records, NARA, Atlanta, Georgia |
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University of Georgia
Athens, GA 30602-1641