Conditions Governing Use

There are no restrictions.

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open to research.

Preferred Citation

Papers of Robert C. Fitzgerald, 1973-1988, MSS 04-4, Special Collections, University of Virginia Law Library.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

This collection was donated to the Law School Special Collections Department in June of 2004.

Biographical / Historical

Robert Clayton Fitzgerald was born 22 September 1921. He was a graduate of George Washington High School in Alexandria, Virginia. He received his B.A. from the University of Virginia in 1941, and his J.D., also from the University of Virginia, in 1946. From 1942 to 1945, he served in the Marine Corps as a 2nd Lieutenant and fought on the Pacific front. In 1946, Mr. Fitzgerald began practicing law in Falls Church, Virginia. He was appointed judge of the Trial Justice and Juvenile and Domestic Relations Courts in Fairfax, Va., in 1951, where he served until 1954 when he was appointed Commonwealth's attorney of Fairfax County, a position he held until 1963 when he was elected to the Virginia Senate representing the counties of Fairfax and Arlington, and the cities of Falls Church and Fairfax. Mr. Fitzgerald served as Chairman of the Virginia Airports Authority, the Dulles Airport Commission, and the Virginia Advisory Legislative Council; he was member of the Senate Ethics Committee, and he served as president of the George Mason University Foundation.

From 1965 to 1993, he was head of the law firm Fitzgerald and Smith of Fairfax, Virginia. In 1993, he accepted an appointment of counsel to the law firm of Hazel and Thomas. Mr. Fitzgerald retired in 1999.

Mr. Fitzgerald's other activities included serving as president of the Fairfax County Bar and the Commonwealth's Attorneys Association. He was dean of the Delta Theta Legal Fraternity, a deacon in the Middleburg Baptist Church, and a member of the Staunton Baptist Church in Huddleston, Va.

Robert C. Fitzgerald died October 10, 2001 in Huddleston, Va.

Scope and Contents

The Papers of Robert Clayton Fitzgerald were donated to the University of Virginia Arthur J. Morris Law Library by his wife, Nancy R. Fitzgerald, in June of 2004. They consist of 24 boxes, 9.7 linear feet.

The papers (1973-1988) pertain to Mr. Fitzgerald's practice as an attorney counseling counties and cities in the State of Virginia on issues of annexation and inter governmental affairs. The most important and complete file is Pittsylvania County - City of Danville, a case that dealt with the annexation petition of Danville, Va., and the negotiations between the city of Danville and the county of Pittsylvania in which Mr. Fitzgerald served as legal counsel for the county's Board of Supervisors.

Other files in the collection include: Albemarle County annexation, in which Mr. Fitzgerald represented the county in its negotiations concerning immunity and revenue sharing with the city of Charlottesville; Fairfax City and County documents referring to city/county contracts and services (Fire Services Agreements) and questions about annexation immunity, annexation petitions, etc. James City County files, where Mr. Fitzgerald was a consultant and later represented James City County officials in their negotiations with the Cities of Williamsburg and Newport News, reviewing and analyzing school contracts, water resources, annexation and consolidation proceedings. The Prince William County case in which the Law Offices of Fitzgerald & Smith supervised the study and analysis of the fiscal impact on the County of Prince William transition to city status. Mr. Fitzgerald counseled Spotsylvania County in matters of "intergovernmental concerns with other governmental institutions and intragovernmental (sic) matters".

The Fauquier County Water and Sanitation Authority v. Marshall Water Works, Inc. is another example of Mr. Fitzgerald's practice. This case refers to the condemnation proceedings pursuant to title 25, chapter 1.1 of the Code of Virginia of the Marshall Water Works and the interest of Fauquier County and Water Authority to purchase the company.

The Family Savings and Loan of Virginia of Springfield, Virginia, documents principally relate to the mergers of the company with Virginia First Savings and Loan Association of Petersburg, Va., and other similar financial institutions. Mr. Fitzgerald was chairman of the Board of Family Savings and Loan of Virginia and Subsidiaries.

There are also some personal and professional correspondence (1979), trustees files (1977-1979), and some financial statements of Family Savings and Loan (1980-1983).

Arrangement

These papers were arranged in three parts:

Part 1: Personal and Professional Correspondence, and Trustees Files.

Part 2: Annexation Cases organized in alphabetical order, and chronological order within the case.

Part 3: Family Savings and Loan of Virginia and Fauquier County Water and Sanitation Authority v. Marshall Water Works Inc. Files

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• Annexation (County government) -- Virginia
• Annexation (Municipal government) -- Virginia
• Danville (Va.)
• Fairfax (Va.)
• Fairfax County (Va.)
• Family Savings and Loan Association of Virginia
• Fitzgerald, Robert Clayton, 1921-2001
• Fredericksburg (Va.)
• James City County (Va.)
• Pittsylvania County (Va.)
• Prince William County (Va.)
• Spotsylvania County (Va.)