Harry E. Groves Papers 1929-1999

Summary

Creator:

Groves, Harry E.

Abstract:

Harry E. Groves (1921- ), Colorado-born African-American lawyer and professor of law, with special interests in constitutional law, particularly of newly formed nations. He served as law school dean at Texas Southern University, 1956-1960, the University of Malaya, 1962-1964, and North Carolina Central University, 1976-1981; president of Central State University, Wilberforce, Ohio, 1965-1968; and Brandis Professor of Law at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1981-1986. The collection includes correspondence and other items, 1951-1999, relating to Groves's work with Texas Southern University, the University of Malaya, the Asia Foundation, Central State University, North Carolina Central University, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; to his interest in constitutional law, particularly relating to Malaysia; and to his law practice. Writings, 1942-1999, include articles, speeches, and lectures on affirmative action, domestic law, constitutional law, African-Americans in education, and the future of African-American institutions; unpublished book-length manuscripts, one of which is a Groves family history; and day journals containing travel descriptions, including one from 1984 with Groves's impressions of South Africa. Personal papers include items relating to Groves's school career and activities of family and friends, 1929-1998; military service, 1944-1946; real estate holdings in Ohio, North Carolina, and Houston, Tex.; Groves family history; and other items. There are also a few photographs of Groves engaged in various activities and of the institutions in which he served.

Extent:

2500 items (3.5 linear feet)

Language:

English.

Library Catalog Link:

View UNC library catalog record for this item

Background

Biographical / historical:

Harry E. Groves was born in Manitou Springs, Colo., on 4 September 1921. An African American in a predominantly white state, Groves was valedictorian of his class, which earned him a full scholarship to the University of Colorado from which he graduated cum laude in 1943. Groves planned to teach high school English, but after graduation immediately enlisted in the Army, serving as a second lieutenant of artillery for 13 months in the European Theater.

Discharged after World War II, Groves enrolled in summer school at the University of Chicago, preparing for a degree in educational administration. Unchallenged by his classes, Groves applied to the law school and earned a J.D. in 1949. While in Chicago, Groves married Evelyn Apperson. An earlier marriage, which produced his only child Sheridon, had ended in divorce.

Groves's understanding of the law and his writing skills impressed a number of academics and won him a Ford Foundation Fellowship to study at Harvard University. While at Harvard, Groves became interested in constitutional law, especially in constitutions of newly formed nations. This passion became a lifelong professional interest in Asian countries, leading him to a professorship and deanship at the University of Malaya in Singapore, numerous lecture tours in several Asian countries, and writing articles on Asian law and four books on the constitution of Malaysia.

In a 1976 newspaper interview, Groves described lawyers as providing "the public and political leadership for a community." He practiced this philosophy in every community in which he lived, serving on numerous committees, councils, boards of directors, and with associations both on the local and national levels. Highlighting this service was his election to the Fayetteville, N.C., City Council, 1951-1952, and his selection as Ethics Committee chair for the United States Olympic Committee, 1993-1996.

Groves was Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Delta Kappa, and Kappa Delta Pi. He received a number of important awards, including a Carnegie Research Grant, and was the 1986 recipient of the North Carolina Bar Association's Judge John L. Parker award. In 1991, the National Bar Association inducted Groves into its Hall of Fame.

Following is a chronology of Groves's career, which included both private practice and legal education:

Date	Event
1944-1946	Second lieutenant, Artillery, United States Army
1946-1949	University of Chicago
1949-1951	Associate professor, North Carolina College Law School, Durham, N.C.
1951-1952	Captain, Judge Advocate General's Corps, 82nd Airborne Division, Ft. Bragg, N.C.
1952-1956	Private practice of law, Fayetteville, N.C.
1956-1960	Dean, School of Law, Texas Southern University, Houston, Tex.
1960-1964	Visiting professor, head, Department of Law; dean, faculty of law, University of Malaya, Singapore
1965-1966	Visiting professor, School of Law, University of Washington, Seattle, Wash.; private practice of law, Houston, Tex.; Director, Minority Groups Project, Association of American Law Schools
1965-1968	President, Central State University, Wilberforce, Ohio
Summer 1968	Visiting professor, School of Law, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah
1968-1970	Professor, School of Law, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio
Summer 1970	Visiting professor, School of Law, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
1971-1974	Private practice of law, Dayton, Ohio; Referee, Domestic Relations Court, Montgomery County, Ohio
1971-1985	Consultant, Asia Foundation, San Francisco, Calif.
1974-1976	Professor, School of Law, University of Dayton, Dayton, Ohio; Hearing examiner, Ohio Civil Rights Commission
1976-1981	Dean, School of Law, North Carolina Central University, Durham, N.C.
1981-1986	Henry Brandis Professor of Law, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
1989-1990	Herff Visiting Professor of Excellence, School of Law, Memphis State University, Memphis, Tenn.
Fall 1992	Visiting professor of law, University of Minnesota
Spring 1993	Visiting professor of law, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, N.C.

Scope and content:

Correspondence and other items, 1951-1999, relating to Groves's work with Texas Southern University, the University of Malaya, the Asia Foundation, Central State University, North Carolina Central University, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, to his interest in constitutional law, particularly relating to Malaysia; and to his law practice. Writings, 1942-1999, include articles, speeches, and lectures on affirmative action, domestic law, constitutional law, African-Americans in education, and the future of African-American institutions; unpublished book-length manuscripts, one of which is a Groves family history; and day journals containing travel descriptions, including one from 1984 with Groves's impressions of South Africa. Personal papers include items relating to Groves's school career and activities of family and friends, 1929-1998; military service, 1944-1946; real estate holdings in Ohio, North Carolina, and Houston, Tex.; Groves family history; and other items. There are also a few photographs of Groves engaged in various activities and of the institutions in which he served.

Custodial history:

Received from Harry E. Groves of Chapel Hill, N.C., in April 1999 (Acc. 98347) and January 2002 (Acc. 99158).

Sensitive materials statement:

Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no responsibility.

Related

Separated material:

Oversize papers (OPF-4975/1)

Oversize volume (SV-4975/1)

Indexed terms

Subjects:

Affirmative action programs.
African American college administrators--North Carolina--History--20th century.
African American college administrators--United States--History--20th century.
African American college teachers--North Carolina--History--20th century.
African American college teachers--United States--History--20th century.
African American families--Colorado.
African American lawyers--North Carolina--History--20th century.
African American lawyers--United States--History--20th century.
African Americans--Colorado--Social life and customs.
African Americans--Education (Higher)--History--20th century.
Constitutional law--Malaysia.
Constitutional law--Study and teaching.
Family--Colorado--Social life and customs.
Law--Study and teaching--Malaysia.
Law--Study and teaching--North Carolina--History--20th century.
Law--Study and teaching--United States.
Lawyers--North Carolina--History--20th century.
Lawyers--United States--History--20th century.
World War, 1939-1945--Participation, African American.

Names:

Asia Foundation.
Central State University (Wilberforce, Ohio).
North Carolina Central University--Faculty--History--20th century.
North Carolina Central University. School of Law.
Texas Southern University. School of Law.
University of Malaya (1962-1966).
University of Malaya (Singapore).
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill--Faculty--History--20th century.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. School of Law--Faculty.
Grove family.
Groves, Harry E.

Places:

Malaysia--Social life and customs.
South Africa--Description and travel.

Restrictions to access:

No restrictions. Open for research.

Restrictions to use:

Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

No usage restrictions.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], in the Harry E. Groves Papers #4975, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Special Collections Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Location of this collection:

Southern Historical Collection

Louis Round Wilson Library

200 South Road

Chapel Hill, NC 27515

Contact:

(919) 962-3765

wilsonlibrary@unc.edu