- unitid
-
{"value"=>"Sc MG 605", "type"=>"local_call"}
{"value"=>"20825", "type"=>"local_mss"}
- unitdate
-
{"value"=>"1907-1990", "type"=>"inclusive", "normal"=>"1907/1990"}
{"value"=>"1936-1990", "type"=>"bulk", "normal"=>"1936/1990"}
- date_inclusive_start
-
1907
- date_inclusive_end
-
1990
- keydate
-
1907
- unittitle
-
{"value"=>"Harold A. Stevens papers"}
- physdesc
-
{"format"=>"simple", "value"=>"8.2 linear feet (21 boxes)"}
- repository
-
{"value"=>"<span class=\"corpname\">The New York Public Library Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division</span>"}
- langmaterial
-
{"value"=>"English"}
- origination
-
{"value"=>"Stevens, Harold A., 1907-1990", "type"=>"persname"}
- bioghist
-
{"value"=>"<p>The late Justice Harold Stevens achieved several historic milestones throughout his career; the most significant being the fact that he was the first Roman Catholic African American to hold several judicial positions in successively higher courts in New York State. Initially appointed to the New York State Supreme Court (1957), eleven years later (1968), he was appointed to the NYS Appellate Division, then to the NYS Court of Appeals, (1974) and lastly, Stevens was appointed to the Appellate Division, First Department from which he retired in 1977.</p> <p>Stevens' accomplishments began in 1936 when he became the first Roman Catholic African-American graduate of Boston College Law School, where he was an honor student and vice-president of his class. In a 1958 interview, Stevens said he had decided to become a lawyer after a 1926 racial incident in which a black women and her two brothers, accused of killing a sheriff, were dragged from the county jail in Aiken, South Carolina, towed through town behind a car, shot, and mutilated.</p> <p>Harold A. Stevens was born in October 1907 on a 1,000 acre farm owned by his father, William F. Stevens, on John's Island, South Carolina. His mother, Lilla L. (Johnson) was a public school teacher and his grandfather attended the University of South Carolina during the Reconstruction era. According to a <span class=\"emph\">New York Times</span>article, his grandfather was expelled by segregationist Governor Wade Hampton, who stated that no colored person would graduate from college in his state.</p> <p>As an undergraduate student, Stevens studied at Claflin College and graduated in 1930 from Benedict College, which later bestowed upon him his first honorary Doctor of Law degree. He passed the state bar exam in South Carolina, Massachusetts, and New York. In 1938 Stevens married Ella C. Myers, a childhood friend, and they relocated to New York City. Shortly thereafter, in the late 1930s and early 1940s Stevens taught labor law at the Association of Catholic Trade Unionists. In 1943 he enlisted in the United States Army. After World War II ended, he served as Special Counsel to President Roosevelt's Fair Employment Practices Committee (FEPC) and arranged for hearings on railroad issues regarding blacks. He also served on the provisional committee to organize black locomotive firemen.</p> <p>For a time, Stevens clerked for Assemblyman William T. Andrews, until he became partner (1938-1942) of Andrews & Stevens. In 1946 Stevens ran for and was elected to the Assembly, becoming the first Roman Catholic African-American assemblyman to represent the predominantly white thirteenth Assembly District in Albany, New York. While an assemblyman, Stevens was also a partner in Dyett & Stevens (1942-1948) and Brandenburg & Stevens (1948-1950). He resigned as assemblyman in the early 1950's when he was elected to the New York State Court of General Sessions (1951); his first judicial position.</p> <p>In early 1952 the novice Justice Stevens became recognized for his court decorum and impartiality when he mediated a trial involving the actress, Tallulah Bankhead, who had accused her maid, Eveleen Ramsey Cronin, of stealing $5,000 from her. The jury found Cronin guilty of grand larceny, but Stevens suspended her sentence. Three years later Governor Averell Harriman appointed him Justice of the State Supreme Court, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Justice Thomas J. Corcoran. In the fall of 1955, Stevens was elected a Justice of the New York State Supreme Court for a fourteen year term. Three years later, Governor Harriman named him an Associate Justice of the Appellate Division.</p> <p>In 1963 Governor Nelson Rockefeller appointed Stevens a Justice of the Appellate Division, and reappointed him in 1968. From 1969 when Governor Rockefeller initially designated Stevens a justice of the Appellate Division, First Department, to 1973 Stevens had the distinction of being the highest ranked Roman Catholic African American in a state judicial system. Also during this period Stevens further distinguished himself by undertaking a number of projects, including a reorganization of the court system and a program to build new courthouses for which he was acknowledged as being the guiding force. In addition, he created, developed and implemented a plan to improve the administration of the local and state trial and appellate judicial system.</p> <p>Stevens devised a procedure, according to one report, that once implemented streamlined malpractice cases by presenting them to a special panel of physicians, lawyers, and judges. The mediation process resulted in dispositions at the pretrial stage of litigation, with diminished expense in time, effort, and money to the parties and to the courts. Stevens was also instrumental in creating the National Center for State Courts (NCSC), a nonprofit organization established in 1971 to provide assistance and consultative services to improve state and local trial and appellate courts. He was a charter board member from 1971 to 1972 and a member of the Finance Committee from 1973 to 1974.</p> <p>In 1973, Stevens was appointed, for an interim term, to the Court of Appeals by Governor Malcolm Wilson. In mid-1973, although the Democratic Party favorite among many voters, he was defeated in the primary election for a full fourteen year term to the Court of Appeals by Democrat Jacob Fuchsberg. Despite the defeat by Fuchsberg in the primary, Stevens campaigned and was endorsed by the Republican, Liberal, and Conservative parties in what became a controversial general election. He lost that election, but in late 1973, Governor Wilson appointed him an Associate Justice to the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court for the First Judicial Department. The next year, Governor Hugh Carey designated Stevens a Presiding Justice of the First Department of the Appellate Division of the State Supreme Court succeeding Justice Owen McGivern, who had resigned. Stevens retired from the judicial system in early 1977 and died of a heart attack in late 1990.</p> <p>Early in his judicial career Stevens received a Papal award, the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice, from Pope Pius XII for his work with Catholic groups. He was a board member of several organizations including, the Catholic Interracial Council of New York; Citizens Planning Council; Catholic Club; Catholic Youth Organization; Grand Street Boys Association; and the Board of Governors of the Guild of Catholic Lawyers. He was President of the Catholic Interracial Council of New York; a committee member of the New York County Lawyers Association; a member of the Committee on Banks, Local Finance and Public Institutions; a Life Member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People; and counsel to the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters.</p>"}
- scopecontent
-
{"value"=>"<p>The Harold A. Stevens Papers, 1936 to 1990, consist of three series: <span class=\"emph\">BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION; PROFESSIONAL CAREER;</span>and <span class=\"emph\">SCRAPBOOKS</span>which document Stevens' advancement to the highest court in New York State and his contributions to the legal profession, particularly his role as a founder of the National Center for State Courts (NCSC). Stevens' accomplishments are reflected in letters from his contemporaries, colleagues and dignitaries. Approximately one third of the collection consists of bound volumes of minutes and notes written by Stevens while he was a judge in the New York State Court system. Newspaper clippings and other memorabilia found in his scrapbooks, which comprise another third of the collection, document his career accomplishments in more detail than is available in his correspondence files.</p>"}
{"value"=>"<p class='list-head'>The Harold A. Stevens papers are arranged in three series:</p>\n<ul class='arrangement series-descriptions'>\n<li><div class='series-title'><a href='/scm/20825#c651466'>Biographical Information</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1940-1991</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p><span class=\"emph\">BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION, 1943-1996, n.d. (.05 lin. ft.),</span>series contains campaign material, letters, addressed to Stevens and his wife Ella from colleagues and subordinates following his retirement from the New York State Court system, as well as his funeral announcement and his obituary from <span class=\"emph\">The New York Times</span>.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/scm/20825#c651468'>Professional Career</a></div>\n<div class='series-description'><p><span class=\"emph\">PROFESSIONAL CAREER, 1936-1996 (6.0 linear ft.).</span>series is comprised of correspondence from colleagues and dignitaries, and contain accolades Stevens received during his rise from assemblyman to his retirement from the New York State Court of Appeals. The files contain some telegrams, reports, programs, and citations. There are seven subseries in this series: <span class=\"emph\">Elections and Appointments; Judicial Journals; General File; Independent Associations; Speeches and Writings; Accolades;</span>and <span class=\"emph\">Printed Matter.</span>The <span class=\"emph\">Elections and Appointments, 1950-1975 (.4 lin. ft.),</span>files include correspondence regarding Stevens' career; both letters of congratulations and letters sympathizing with his loss of an election. Letters and certificates regarding his judicial appointments by New York State governors can be found here and also in his scrapbooks.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/scm/20825#c651562'>Scrapbooks</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1939-1985</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>There are ten scrapbooks containing items that are illustrative of Stevens' career. In general, the majority of the materials are newspaper clippings, commencement programs, citations, and letters. The earliest scrapbooks, 1939 to 1952, include recital programs for Marian Anderson and Mildred Jenkins, and the ballot for Stevens when he ran for the Assembly in 1945. One scrapbook relates to the 1958 Manhattan College commencement exercise at which he was honored. Another scrapbook, dating from 1950 to 1964, includes newspaper clippings, programs, and a citation from Governor Nelson Rockefeller redesignating Stevens Associate Justice of the Appellate Division.</p> <p>The scrapbooks for 1957 to 1980, consist of mementos from the International Congress of Jurists (convened in New Delhi, India in 1959), invitations (from Mayor and Mrs. John Lindsay, Governor and Mrs. Malcolm Wilson among others), several newspaper clippings about Benedict College (his alma mater), notices of his speaking engagements, and articles about some of his cases. One scrapbook contains newspaper clippings on the Medical Malpractice Mediation Program. Scrapbooks dated from 1963 to 1982, contain photographs, letters, programs, membership certificates from professional organizations, and two certificates from Governor Nelson Rockefeller (1967, 1969). The scrapbooks from 1973 to 1985 include invitations, campaign flyers, pamphlets, and newspaper clippings on the Democratic primary election between Jacob Fuchsberg and Stevens for Justice to the Court of Appeals in 1973.</p></div></li></ul>\n", "type"=>"arrangement"}
- acqinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>Gift of: Ella M. Stevens</p> <p>SCM 97-2</p>"}
- separatedmaterial
-
{"value"=>"<p>The following items were removed from:</p> <p><span class=\"emph\">Name of Collection/Papers</span>Harold Arnoldus Stevens</p> <p><span class=\"emph\">Accession Number</span>SCM 97-2</p> <p> <span class=\"emph\">Donor: Mrs. Ella M. Stevens</span></p> <p><span class=\"emph\">Date received:</span>1/14/97</p> <p><span class=\"emph\">Date transferred:</span>1/21/97</p> <p>The item(s) listed below have been sent to the division indicated, either to be retained or disposed of there. Any items that should receive special disposition are clearly marked.</p> <p> <span class=\"emph\"> <span class=\"emph\">Schomburg Library:</span></span></p> <p>BLACK FACES IN HIGH PLACES: Negroes in Government; The New York</p> <p>Red Book; picture story of DARCEE.</p> <p> <span class=\"emph\"> <span class=\"emph\">Schomburg Moving Image and Recorded Sound Division:</span></span></p> <p>Two videotapes: Stevens Portrait Ceremony, Boston College Law School 3/26/90 and The oral recollection of Black South Carolinians, The Honorable Harold A. Stevens.</p> <p> <span class=\"emph\"> <span class=\"emph\">Schomburg Photographs and Print Division:</span></span></p> <p>11 albums; 55 photographs.</p> <p> <span class=\"emph\"> <span class=\"emph\">Other:</span></span></p> <p>SIBL - FAIR SPEECH: GENDER NEUTRAL LANGUAGE IN THE COURTS.</p>"}
- arrangement
-
{"value"=>"I. Biographical Information, 1943-1996; II. Professional Career, 1950-1989; III. Scrapbooks, 1939-1985", "supress_display"=>true}
- note
-
{"value"=>"<p>Videotapes transferred to the Moving Image and Recorded Division; photographs transferred to the Photographs and Print Division</p>", "encodinganalog"=>"500"}
- abstract
-
{"value"=>"The collection documents Stevens' advancement to the highest court in New York State and his contributions to the legal profession particularly his role as a founder of the National Center for State Courts (NCSC). Stevens' accomplishments are reflected in letters from his contemporaries, colleagues, and dignitaries. Approximately one third of the collection, ten archival boxes, from 1951 to 1969, consists of judicial journals or volumes containing descriptive notes and transcripts from court cases ranging from litigation between companies and personal lawsuits to grand larceny, robbery, separations and divorces, custody proceedings and murder trials over which Stevens presided. There is also one notebook entitled, \"Torts, Abstracts, and Five Point Method Notes.\" The collection also contains some letters, legal documents from a few court cases, and two folders of International Commission of Jurists Conference papers. ̀."}
- prefercite
-
{"value"=>"Harold A. Stevens papers, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, The New York Public Library"}
- processinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>Processed by Paula Williams; Machine-readable finding aid created by Apex Data Services; revised by Terry Catapano.</p>"}
- date_start
-
1907
- date_end
-
1990
- date_bulk_start
-
1936
- date_bulk_end
-
1990