Established in 1941, the Old Dominion Bar Association is the oldest African American legal association in Virginia. The collection of materials presented here were loaned to Special Collections and Archives in the early 1990s by Richmond civil rights lawyer Oliver Hill, one of the organization's founders and its first president, to be digitally scanned. The materials in the collection, including correspondence, reports, newspaper clippings, and minutes, were then returned to Mr. Hill.
The date range of the collection spans four decades, from the 1940s through the 1980s. It appears a good portion of the materials dating from the 1940s were originally collected by then ODBA president Robert H. Cooley, Jr. One folder of particular importance to the organization's history is old_do09 which seems to be made up of correspondence from 1941 regarding the founding of the ODBA. The Old Dominion Bar Association is still active.
Each "folder" below includes images from the collection that have been digitally scanned. To view the material in the collection, click on a particular folder. Each folder contains image files listed sequentially in the order they were scanned. View the images as if you are going from the first page of document to the last. For some images it may be necessary to zoom in on particular words in the document. Adobe Photoshop and other viewers allow this. The images presented here are JPEG images which are easy to view through a web browser. Special Collections and Archives houses the original archival TIFF images of these images.
If you have questions about this collection email Special Collections and Archives.
Folder Name -- Description of items (images) in folders.
americo01 -- American Bar Association materials collected by Old Dominion Bar member Robert H. Cooley, Jr. Includes materials from the ABA Mid-Atlantic Regional Meeting in Baltimore in 1956.
bars_101 -- Program for Old Dominion Bar Association (ODBA) 24th Annual Meeting held in 1967; program for National Bar Association convention meeting from 1963; Campaign material and correspondence concerning Major S. High for Congressman (North Carolina) dated 1964; Program for ODBA Annual Meeting 1965; Correspondence concerning ODBA annual meeting in 1964 and 1967; Virginia State Bar meeting 1964; Southeastern Lawyers Association correspondence (one letter) 1965; report of the 1967 ODBA constitution and by-laws committee.
biogra01 -- Notes; notes on Virginia Voters League (Petersburg, Virginia) stationary; 1941 letter to Robert H. Cooley, Jr. from the Law Library of Howard University; letter from Henry L. Saunders concerning the Byrd Machine and voter participation in Virilities dated 1948; sample ballot for a city council primary election, 1948; sample ballot (from Virginia?) for election of U.S. president, November 1948; sample ballots for 1944 presidential election; United Negro College Fund material from 1948; form for "Biographical Sketch Of Negro Lawyers in Virginia"; published report dated 1939 from the Commission on Interracial Cooperation; Virginia Union University Bulletin, 1948; ODBA 1989 annual meeting material (concerning jury presentations);
bio_sk01-- Notes on Samuel W. Tucker; other miscellaneous notes; ODBA Newsletter December 1983; biographical sketch of William L. Lonesome; sketch of Samuel W. Tucker; Virginia State College certificate of meritorious service to Samuel W. Tucker, 1977; ODBA recommendation of Samuel W. Tucker to be appointed U.S. Court of Appeals; ODBA Executive Committee meeting announcement, 1984; letter to ODBA Executive Committee from Oliver Hill concerning 1985 convention to possibly be held in Roanoke, 1984; newspaper clipping regarding Charlottesville desegregation and attorneys Hill, Roland Ealey, and Martin A. Martin, not dated; newspaper clipping regarding Richmond desegregation and attorneys Hill and Ealey, dated 1958.
negro_01 -- Notes - the seventh image in this folder concerns racial matters in Virginia, not dated, images 1-6 poor quality; National Bar Association Convention materials 1944; form for "Biographical Sketch Of Old Dominion Bar Association Members"; Democratic Party guide ballot for state election in Virginia, 1941.
old_do01 -- ODBA program for annual meeting, 1988; biographical sketch on Spottswood W. Robinson III; ODBA correspondence concerning judicial appointments, 1970s and 1980s; correspondence from Sen. John Warner, 1988; Roland D. Ealey resume; correspondence (letters of support) concerning Ealey's appointment as Circuit Court Judge, 1976; document concerning state law violations divided by race.
old_do02 -- Street Legal Project proposal; Virginia Landowner Information Project, 1970s; by-laws of ODBA, no date; constitution of ODBA, no date.
old_do03 -- Program covers for 1944, 1945 annual ODBA meetings; ODBA correspondence 1940s.
old_do04 -- ODBA correspondence 1950s. Image #2 (OLD_02.JPG) is letter to Martin A. Martin from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., May 14, 1956.
old_do05 -- ODBA materials from the l1950s and early 1960s; image #126, 141 and 142 concerns Prince Edward County school case; image #127 dates from the 1980s and concerns Oliver Hill's endorsement of Fred D. Gray for political office - the letter also mentions Richmond Mayor Roy West; image #148 concerns complaint against Samuel W. Tucker by a regional State Bar Association ca. 1960.
old_do06 -- Notes, undated; correspondence from 1950s and 1960s; a history of the ODBA begins with image 222; correspondence from the 1980s; ODBA objections to J. Harvie Wilkinson to appointment of U.S. Court of Appeals, 1984; various publications, 1980s; proposed ODBA constitution.
old_do07-- American Bar Association report on the Legal Services Program, ca. 1965; material dating from the 1980s; legal aid program, 1960s/1970s.
old_do08 -- Correspondence to Chauncey Eskridge, a lawyer in Chicago, from an inmate at the Virginia State Farm regarding religious beliefs and the courts, 1971; correspondence to Hill, Tucker and Marsh from same inmate; biographical information on L. Douglas Wilder, Colston Alexander Lewis, Roland D. Ealey; correspondence by ODBA members of their support of nomination of Roland D. Ealey for the judiciary; image #38 and 39 concern Virginia State Farm inmate.
old_do09-- Notes, including mention of a constitution committee; National Bar Association correspondence, 1939; correspondence to and from Robert H. Cooley, Jr, late 1930s/early 1940s; correspondence regarding founding of an organization of African American Virginia lawyers, 1941; by-laws materials, undated.
old_do10 -- Images from the Howard University School of Law Bulletin, 1962-1963, 1963-1964; biographical material on J. Thomas Hewin, Sr., 1950s; and miscellaneous materials.
http://www.library.vcu.edu/jbc/speccoll/vbha/oldbar.html
Special Collections and Archives
Email: libjbcsca@vcu.edu