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Arthur J. Morris Law Library Special Collections
Arthur J. Morris Law LibraryUniversity of Virginia Law Library
Because of the nature of this collection, copyright status varies across the materials. Copyright is assumed to be held by the original creators of the content that has not yet entered the public domain.
There are no restrictions on access to the materials in this collection.
Before the items in this collection came to the Arthur J. Morris Law Library, Gregory Swanson's daughter, Karen Swanson, had accepted the posthumous awards on behalf of her father and inherited the rest of the collection from him.
Gregory Swanson's daughter, Karen Swanson, donated these items to the University of Virginia's Law Library on February 14, 2024.
Gregory Hayes Swanson (1924-1992) was a U.S. lawyer who primarily practiced civil rights and tax law. In 1950, Swanson became the first Black student at the University of Virginia, successfully suing in federal court for admission after being denied entry because of his race.
Swanson was born in Danville, Virginia, on May 1, 1924, the son of Pearl Ann Adams and Benjamin James Swanson. In 1941, he graduated from John M. Langston High School, and four years later, he received an A.B. degree from Howard University, majoring in political science. In 1948, Swanson received an L.L.B. degree from the Howard University School of Law.
Gregory Swanson began practicing law soon after graduating from Howard University. In 1948, he accepted a position with the firm Hill, Martin, and Robinson in Richmond, Virginia, and two years later, he opened a private practice in Martinsville, Virginia.
In November 1949, Swanson applied to the LL.M. degree program at the University of Virginia School of Law. The Law School initially approved his application, but the University's Board of Visitors overruled the School and denied Swanson's admission because he was Black. With the support of Hill, Martin, and Robinson and the Virginia Chapter of the NAACP, Swanson filed a complaint against the University of Virginia in federal court. In 1950, the court ordered the University to admit Swanson, and he enrolled that fall. Swanson faced a harsh climate of racial prejudice at the University of Virginia but endeavored to participate in the University community and push the institution to be more inclusive.
After attending the University of Virginia for one year, Swanson returned to private practice in Martinsville. In 1957, he opened a law practice in Alexandria, Virginia. Then, in 1961, Swanson accepted a position at the Internal Revenue Service, where he remained until his retirement in 1984.
Gregory H. Swanson died in 1992. He was survived by his wife of 37 years, Betty Oliver Swanson, and his two daughters, Karen M. Swanson and Camille C. Swanson.
This collection contains one part of Gregory H. Swanson's professional papers. They primarily document his thoughts on civil rights and his work in this area during the 1950s. The collection also includes Swanson's class photograph from the Howard University School of Law and several posthumous awards given to his daughter, Karen.
The arrangement of this collection remains unchanged from when it was first donated to the University of Virginia.
Around 1980, another part of Gregory Swanson's papers was donated to Howard University's Moorland-Spingarn Research Center. Those materials were processed into Collection 100: Gregory H. Swanson papers.
In 2024, the University of Virginia Law Library processed into its collection, MSS-2024-02, a copy of a Virginia General Assembly joint resolution commemorating Swanson's life and legacy.
Gregory H. Swanson compiled this case file while working on Albert Jackson, Jr. v. Commonwealth of Virginia (1952), which was heard in the Supreme Court of Appeals of Virginia. It contains Swanson's correspondence, notes, briefs, research materials, and other items that document his participation in the case. The file also includes records documenting Swanson's petition to commute Jackson's sentence.
On July 6, 1951, Albert Jackson, Jr., a Black man, was tried and convicted of raping a white woman in the Corporation Court of the City of Charlottesville. A jury sentenced Jackson to death.
In 1952, Gregory H. Swanson and the law firm of Hill, Martin, and Robinson represented Jackson when he appealed the decision in the Supreme Court of Appeals of Virginia. In that case, Albert Jackson, Jr. v. Commonwealth of Virginia, the Court considered three questions that Jackson's lawyers had raised about the original trial: "1. Was there sufficient credible and reliable evidence of rape to sustain a conviction? 2. Was the confession of the defendant properly admitted? 3. Were the statements of the Commonwealth Attorney prejudicial to the defendant?"
After considering these questions, the Court of Appeals upheld the original verdict and sentence. In 1951 and 1952, civil rights activists in Virginia cited the case against Albert Jackson, Jr. as an example of how the state's judicial system typically imposed harsher sentences on Black felons when compared to white felons convicted for the same or similar crimes.
The case file retains Gregory Swanson's original order and arrangement of items. Archivists at the Arthur J. Morris Law Library have done this to preserve relationships between the items that might have been significant to Swanson.
This file contains printed briefs for Albert Jackson, Jr. v. Commonwealth of Virginia that the Supreme Court of Appeals of Virginia issued. These include a copy of "Record Number 3953", five copies of the "Brief on Behalf of the Commonwealth," and three copies of the "Reply Brief for Plaintiff-In-Error."
This is a printed copy of the "Reply Brief for Plaintiff in Error" for Silas Rogers vs. Commonwealth of Virginia. The Supreme Court of Appeals of Virginia heard this case in 1943.
This file contains two printed copies of the "Argument Docket" for the 1951-1952 term of the Supreme Court of Appeals of Virginia at Richmond. The docket lists Albert Jackson, Jr. v. Commonwealth of Virginia.
This is a collection of case citations. Swanson heavily annotated the citations with handwritten notes.
This file contains trial notes that Gregory H. Swanson created and collected for Albert Jackson, Jr. v. Commonwealth of Virginia. There are both handwritten and typescript notes in this file.
This is collection of Gregory H. Swanson's correspondence that relates to Albert Jackson, Jr. v. Commonwealth of Virginia. The correspondents include: Frances Davis (Albert Jackson, Jr.'s aunt), Spottswood Robinson, III, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), S.A. Cunningham (Court Reporter), Charles E. (C.E.) Moran (Charlottesville Corporation Court Clerk), and Martin A. Martin.
This is a collection of Gregory H. Swanson's correspondence that relates to Albert Jackson, Jr. v. Commonwealth of Virginia. The correspondents include: Spottswood Robinson, III, T.J. Sellers, Sarah Patton-Boyle, R. Watson Sadler (Judge, Corporation Court of Charlottesville), Randolph L. White, Martin A. Martin, Charles E. (C.E.) Moran (Clerk for the Corporation Court of Charlottesville), Frances Davis (Albert Jackson, Jr.'s aunt), Albert Jackson, Jr., S.A. Cunningham (Court Reporter), George Lex, M.B. Watts (Clerk for the Supreme Court of Appeals of Virginia), and Frederick T. Gray (Assistant Attorney General of Virginia).
This is a typescript copy of the "Petition for Writ of Error" for Albert Jackson, Jr. v. Commonwealth of Virginia.
This file contains legal records and correspondence that document Gregory H. Swanson's work to have the Governor of Virginia commute Albert Jackson, Jr.'s death sentence. This effort occurred after the Supreme Court of Appeals of Virginia ruled in favor of the Commonwealth. The file includes a typescript petition to Virginia Governor John S. Battle, a letter from John S. Battle denying the petition, a copy of the final order for execution, and other legal documents.
During the 1950s and 1960s, Gregory H. Swanson compiled this file of news clippings, publications, and other documents related to the subject of civil rights. It includes content written by and about Gregory H. Swanson.
Gregory H. Swanson stored these items in a single folder. While processing collection MSS 2024-01 at the Arthur J. Morris Law Library, archivists removed the items and gave each of them their own folder. The Library took this action to facilitate the preservation of collection.
Archivists arranged the new item folders into an order that is identical to the order they found in Swanson's original folder. They did this to maintain relationships between the items in this file that might have been significant to Swanson.
Incomplete edition of the Family Weekly section of the Danville Register containing parts of two articles: "Sargent Shriver: Fireworks in a Gray-Flannel Package" and "What Freedom Means to Me" by John H. Glenn.
Arthur B. Caldwell, Chief of the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Section, acknowledges the receipt of another letter from Swanson.
Short article in an unknown publication reporting on the appointment of the first Black pages in the US Supreme Court.
Print advertisement from the Container Corporation of America quoting the Institutes of Justinian.
Short article in an unknown publication reporting that there is a personal advertisement with a man looking to meet a woman who owns a tractor.
In this letter to a newspaper editor, Jules Bernfeld of Alexandria writes their opinion about Congressman Joel Broyhill's position for signing the "Southern Manifesto."
Short newspaper article about the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to Dr. Ralph Bunche.
This clipping includes 3 letters to the editor of an unknown newspaper supporting Gregory H. Swanson's admission to the University of Virginia in 1951.
Short newspaper article about the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to Dr. Ralph Bunche.
This clipping includes 3 letters to the editor of an unknown newspaper supporting Gregory H. Swanson's admission to the University of Virginia in 1951.
This is a newspaper clipping of a letter that Gregory H. Swanson wrote to the editor of the Washington Post. In the letter, Swanson suggests that an earlier editorial in the Washington Post, "Babel," might have had a role in persuading the administration of U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower to make its position on desegregation more clear. Swanson then expresses his opinion that efforts to end racial segregation in the United States can no longer be delayed.
This newspaper clipping contains an article reporting on the "Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom."
Newspaper clipping of an article reporting about a new study on the psychological aspects of racial desegregation.
This is a newspaper clipping of a letter Gregory H. Swanson wrote to the editor of the Washington Post. In the letter, Swanson, responding to an earlier editorial titled "Babel", expresses his opininon that President Dwight D. Eisenhower ought to be more open and honest about his positions on racial desegregation.
There are multiple copies of this editorial letter in Swanson's civil rights subject file.
This is a clipping of an opinion piece in an unknown publication. The unidentified author praises President Ngo Dinh Diem of South Vietnam for his position on democracy.
This clipping from the Washington Post reports on Gregory Swanson's past experience as a University of Virginia student and describes some of his thoughts about racial desegregation.
In this document, Gregory Swanson, as the President of the Martinsville Branch of the NAACP, proposes 10 resolutions for the branch to adopt in 1957.
The Fairfax County Council on Human Relations issued this statement in response to events surrounding the desegregation of public schools in Little Rock, Arkansas. The statement points out differences between Little Rock and "Massive Resistance" in Virginia and it discusses concerns about delays in desegregating Northern Virginia's schools.
Print copy of the Petition.
Print copy of the Supreme Court's decision in Brown v. Board of Education.
The handbook describes the "Catholic Approach" to racial desegregation and the integration of Catholic schools.
This pamphlet contains a published transcript of a radio round table discussion between Laird Bell, Arthur Holly Compton, and Ralph W. Tyler. Also, it includes an essay called "A Sense of the Future" by J. Bronowski.
The pamphlet is annotated with handwritten notes.
This is an article in Time magazine about how racial segregation is changing in the U.S. South. There is a a short passage about the University of Virginia: "When the Harvard football team arrived six years ago at the University of Virginia with a Negro tackle, cries of pain could be heard all over town. Today Virginia makes no such fuss: it has grown accustomed to unsegregated student meetings, even allows Negro nurses to serve on the university hospital staff."
The Church Federation of Greater Chicago published this pamphlet to share its views about racism and racial discrimination in the Chicago region.
Several pages from the June 6, 1965 edition of the Danville Register.
This article reports on a growing movement in the U.S. Congress to protect the authority of state governments in the wake of a series of U.S. Supreme Court decisions overturning states laws. The state lwas discussed include those that mandate racial segregation.
This is a newspaper clipping of a letter Gregory Swanson wrote to the editor of the Henry County Journal. Swanson expresses his opinion that the United States should first attempt to eradicate inequality at home before "embarking upon a global quest for freedom."
This is a clipping of an article written by Irving Carlyle, an attorney from Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Carlyle is the leader of the opposition to the Pearsall Plan, a strategy to resist federally-mandated racial integration in North Carolina's schools. Carlyle argues that attempts by lawyers to uphold segregation and resist the Supreme Court will undermine democracy and the rule of law.
This is a newspaper clipping of an article reporting on a meeting of the Pittsylvania County Citizens Executive Committee. At that meeting, 500 Black residents of the County unanimously voted to support the racial integration of schools, even at the price of having the school system closed.
The article reports that Gregory Swanson, who was not invited to the event, spoke. It is reported that he said, "Anyone who asks you to sleep on your rights while they are being stolen-I'd say get thee behind me ... I have been moved by this meeting tonight. I am moved to see that we had some Negroes who hadn't sold their birthright for a mess of pottage. This thing is like a snowball going down hill. Nobody can stop it. But you can't sit idly by ... Stay with it. I was crippled, from lack of opportunities. Most of you have been crippled. But stay with it. The people of Alabama are still walking, not riding those buses. We can do the same thing here."
This is a newspaper clipping of a letter Gregory H. Swanson wrote to the editor of the Washington Post. In the letter, Swanson, responding to an earlier editorial titled "Babel", expresses his opininon that President Dwight D. Eisenhower ought to be more open and honest about his positions on racial desegregation.
There are multiple copies of this editorial letter in Swanson's civil rights subject file.
This is a newspaper clipping of a letter Gregory H. Swanson wrote to the editor of the Washington Post. In the letter, Swanson, responding to an earlier editorial titled "Babel", expresses his opininon that President Dwight D. Eisenhower ought to be more open and honest about his positions on racial desegregation.
There are multiple copies of this editorial letter in Swanson's civil rights subject file.
This opinion article from the editors of the Washington Post argues that "too many unauthorized spokesmen have been telling the country what the President thinks about the problems arising out of school desegregation."
On November 2, 1956, the Washington Post published Gregory H. Swanson's response to this editorial article. Swanson collected multiple copies of the response in his civil rights subject file.
"Congress and Equality" shares news about the American Council of Human Rights. The focus of this issue is the Council's program proposals for U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
This is a clipping of a newspaper editorial from an unknown publication. It supports a recent statement in defense of the U.S. Supreme Court by a group of 100 lawyers.
This is a newspaper clipping of an article reporting on the development of minature microphones to diagnose heart conditions.
This is a clipping of an editorial published in an unknown newspaper. It argues that the U.S. President and Department of Justice should do more to protect the rights of Black citizens to vote.
The note "Respond with letter" is handwritten on the clipping.
These are typescript copies of a letter that Gregory H. Swanson wrote to the editor of the Washington Post. In the letter, Swanson, responding to an earlier editorial titled "Babel", expresses his opininon that President Dwight D. Eisenhower ought to be more open and honest about his positions on racial desegregation.
The Washington Post published the letter on November 2, 1956. Swanson kept multiple copies of the published letter in his civil rights subject file.
This is a handwritten copy of a letter that Gregory H. Swanson wrote to the editor of the Washington Post. In the letter, Swanson, responding to an earlier editorial titled "Babel", expresses his opininon that President Dwight D. Eisenhower ought to be more open and honest about his positions on racial desegregation.
The Washington Post published the letter on November 2, 1956. Swanson kept multiple copies of the published letter in his civil rights subject file.
These are printed copies of two opinions of the U.S. Supreme Court. The opinion for Bolling v. Sharpe was filed inside of the opinion for Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas.
The Public Affairs Committee, a non-profit educational organization, published this pamphlet in cooperation with the NAACP. The pamphlet provides some background and context for questions surrounding the racial integration of U.S. schools after the U.S. Supreme Court issued its opinion in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas.
The pamphlet is annotated with a few handwritten notes.
This is a typescript copy of a letter that Gregory H. Swanson wrote to the editor of the Washington Post. In the letter, Swanson suggests that an earlier editorial in the Washington Post, "Babel," might have had a role in persuading the administration of U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower to make its position on desegregation more clear. Swanson then expresses his opinion that efforts to end racial segregation in the United States can no longer be delayed.
The Washington Post published an edited version of this letter on November 29, 1956, titled "Delayed Justice."
Gregory H. Swanson writes to thank Sarah Patton Boyle on behalf of the Delta Nu Lambda Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity and the Danville Chapter of the NAACP. On May 18, 1955, Sarah Patton Boyle spoke at a public meeting hosted by the two groups.
The letter includes a newspaper clipping from the Danville Register reporting on the event.
This pamphlet from the Virginia Citizens Conference provides instructions for paying the poll tax and registering to vote in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
This is a clipping of an article from Time magazine. The article reports on the potential role of the U.S. Supreme Court in ending racial segregation in the United States. A handwritten note was attached to the article.
In this letter, Phineas Indritz, an attorney, argues to Joseph D. Stecher, Secretary of the American Bar Association (A.B.A), that the A.B.A. should no longer require lawyers to disclose their race before admission to the association.
This is a copy of a resolution presented in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives arguing that U.S. Supreme Court cases that overturn state racial segregation laws are unconstitutional.
In 1961, Sarah Patton Boyle, a white civil rights activist living in Charlottesville, Va., initiated this brief correspondence with Gregory Swanson. Boyle was writing a book and wanted Swanson's permission to publish quotes he made in an earlier series of correspondence with her. She also inquired about his personal life and views on Virginia's current state of civil rights.
Swanson agreed to allow Patton Boyle to publish his quotes, and he shared news about his family and career. He ended his letter to Boyle by writing that he believed Virginia's political leadership would only accept racial integration under external pressure.
This photograph includes a portrait of Gregory H. Swanson.
These are awards and honors that Gregory H. Swanson received. Some awards were given to him posthumously.
The awards and honors are arranged in chronological order.
This file contains the original paper folders that Gregory Swanson used to store the items in this collection. The folders are titled, but do not contain any items.