Restrictions to Access

No restrictions. Open for research.

Copyright Notice

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

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.

Provenance

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.

The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.

Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.

• 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.
• Asia Foundation.
• Central State University (Wilberforce, Ohio).
• Constitutional law--Malaysia.
• Constitutional law--Study and teaching.
• Family--Colorado--Social life and customs.
• Grove family.
• Groves, Harry E.
• 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.
• Malaysia--Social life and customs.
• North Carolina Central University--Faculty--History--20th century.
• North Carolina Central University. School of Law.
• South Africa--Description and travel.
• 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.
• World War, 1939-1945--Participation, African American.

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:

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.

Oversize papers (OPF-4975/1)

Oversize volume (SV-4975/1)