Creator: Butler, Algernon Lee, 1905-1978.
Collection number: 4034
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Abstract: Algernon Lee Butler, attorney in Sampson County, N.C., 1931-1959; active member of the Republican Party; and U.S. District Judge for Eastern North Carolina, 1959-1978. Judicial files, correspondence, and other material of Algernon Lee Butler. Pre-judicial papers, 1928-1959, include political correspondence and printed material, mostly related to Republican Party business; legal correspondence, briefs, and transcripts; correspondence and printed material regarding Butler’s duties for the Clinton city schools and Sampson County government; a wide variety of writings and speeches that Butler produced on political, educational, and civic topics; and limited personal correspondence. Judicial papers, 1959-1978, include case files, handwritten notes, legal briefs and orders, correspondence, copies of opinions, clippings, and other papers. Materials relating to school desegregation cases, civil rights cases, and the case of Jeffrey MacDonald are included.
Repository: Southern Historical Collection
Collection Highlights: While serving as a judge Butler gained a reputation for his involvement in desegregating North Carolina public schools and in numerous civil rights cases. The collection reflects his efforts in the civil rights movement and contains speeches that reveal his dedication to desegregation (1950s-1970s).