Dates: 1870 - 1974.

Biography:

William N. Ethridge, Jr.

William N. Ethridge, Jr., was born in Columbus in 1912. He attended public schools at West Point and graduated from the University of Mississippi and received his Master of Laws Degree from Southern California in 1940. He practiced law in Oxford and Jackson and taught at the Ole Miss Law School. Ethridge was appointed to the State Supreme Court in October 1950 by Governor Fielding L. Wright. He was later elected to the post. By virtue of his seniority on the Supreme Court, he became Presiding Justice on January 6, 1964, and Chief Justice in January 1966. At the time of his death, he had served on the Court for twenty-one years, six years as Chief Justice.

Scope and Content Note:

This collection contains the following:

  • correspondence, April 14, 1959–February 22, 1972 (ff. 1–4)
  • a funeral notice of William N. Ethridge, grandfather of the Chief Justice, September 30, 1910 (ff. 5)
  • diary of William N. Ethridge, Sr., February 18, 1960–March 14, 1960 (ff. 66)
  • a list of sympathy cards, telegrams and letters sent to the Ethridge family, 1971 (ff. 7)
  • last will and testaments of members of the Ethridge family (ff. 8)
  • a short biographical sketch of Judge Ethridge by his wife (ff. 9)
  • a speech delivered at Judge Ethridge's funeral by William F. Winter (ff. 10)
  • a wedding invitation, July 6, 1911 (ff. 11)
  • a petition by the Mississippi State Bar Association for adoption of a Code of Professional Responsibility, 1971 (ff. 12)
  • a resolution written by Scott Tennyson for the Hinds County Bar Association, 1971 (ff. 13)
  • a deed belonging to John Ethridge, May 23, 1870 (ff. 14)
  • warranty deeds, May 2, 1892–October 6, 1902 (ff. 15)
  • a program of the Fondren Presbyterian Church, August 8, 1971 (ff. 16)
  • an indenture, July 9, 1900 (ff. 17)
  • a pamphlet on the National Conference of Chief Justices Twenty-third Annual Meeting, June 30–July 2, 1971 (ff. 18)
  • a journal of the American Judicature Society, 1973 (ff. 19)
  • program of the presentation of the portrait of Chief Justice Ethridge, held at the Mississippi Supreme Court, 1974 (ff. 20)
  • telegrams concerning the births of the Ethridge children (ff. 21)
  • telegrams of sympathy, 1971 (ff. 22)
  • a certificate of Release of Prisoner of War for John Ethridge (ff. 24)
  • a proclamation by ex-Governor John Bell Williams, July 29, 1971 (ff. 25)
  • gifts in memory of Judge W. N. Ethridge given to the University of Mississippi (ff. 26)
  • copies of the resolution adopted by the Court and read at Judge Ethridge's memorial service, 1971 (ff. 27)
  • news clippings (ff. 29–32)
  • photographs and two notebooks containing material on law and news clippings (box 4)