First in a series to include papers of J.P. Coleman, Orma Smith, Claude F. Clayton and others
OXFORD, Miss. – The papers of former Mississippi Supreme Court Justice Armis Hawkins are the focus of a panel discussion July 1 at the University of Mississippi.
The free, public event begins at 5:30 p.m. in the Faulkner Room of the J.D. Williams Library. Panelists include U.S. District Judge Michael Mills, Oxford attorney Hal Freeland and UM political papers archivist Leigh McWhite. State bar members can receive an hour of continuing legal education for attending.
“The program will recount Armis Hawkins’ life and career, count down his 10 most significant opinions and discuss the relevance of judicial papers in general and of Hawkins’ papers in particular,” McWhite said. “A selection of items from his collection will also be on display.”
Hawkins won election to the state Supreme Court in 1980 and served as chief justice from 1993 until his retirement in 1995. He acquired a reputation as an independent jurist, prolific author of opinions and effective leader.
“In 1992, Hawkins wrote the majority opinion for the decision which permitted the state to retry Byron de la Beckwith for the 1963 assassination of civil rights activist Medgar Evers,” McWhite said. “During his tenure as chief justice, he guided the state through significant reform that included the creation of the appellate system as well as the Administration Office of Courts. The Archives and Special Collections is pleased to share this important collection with both researchers and the general public.”
The Hawkins panel discussion is the first in a series of programs that will take place over the next few years focusing on law-related collections. Future sessions will cover the judicial papers of J.P. Coleman, Orma Smith and Claude F. Clayton, as well as the collections of John C. Satterfield (president of the American Bar Association in 1961-62) and U.S. Sen. James O. Eastland (chair of the judiciary committee from 1956 to 1978).
The finding aid for the Armis Hawkins Collection is available at http://purl.oclc.org/umarchives/MUM01718/. For more information or for assistance related to a disability, contact Leigh McWhite at 662-915-1850 or slmcwhit@olemiss.edu.