Collection Focus: Judge Harry J. Lemley Papers

Harry J. Lemley was born August 6, 1883, in Upperville, Virginia. He attended Randolph Macon Academy and the University of Virginia before receiving his law degree from Washington and Lee University in 1910. After graduation, Lemley moved to Hope, Arkansas, and practiced law in South Arkansas for 27 years. In May 1939, President Roosevelt appointed him to the federal bench.

While federal judge of the Western District, Lemley, in June 1958, issued an opinion in the Aaron v. Cooper case that called for a temporary halt to racial integration at Little Rock's Central High School. Several months later, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the ruling.

The Harry J. Lemley Papers include letters received and scrapbooks compiled by the judge related to his ruling in the case. Though Lemley’s decision only affected integration in the Little Rock School District, he received letters from across the country both supporting and denouncing his ruling.

View the digitized collection in its entirety here.