Indiana Historical Society - Manuscripts & Archives
User Information
Biographical Sketch
Scope and Content Note
Folder Listing
Cataloguing Information
Processed by
Chris Harter
28 January 1998
VOLUME OF COLLECTION: 1 manuscript box
COLLECTION DATES: 1955-1987
PROVENANCE: Harry L. Wallace, Northbrook, IL, 19 December 1997
RESTRICTIONS: None
REPRODUCTION RIGHTS: Permission to reproduce or publish material in this collection must be obtained in writing from the Indiana Historical Society.
ALTERNATE FORMATS: None
OTHER FINDING AIDS: None
RELATED HOLDINGS: SC 1095, Sherman Minton Correspondence; M 221, Meredith Nicholson Papers; M 472, Henry J. Richardson Papers; Sherman Minton: Indiana's Supreme Court Justice (KF8745.M55 R3 1996)
ACCESSION NUMBERS: 1998.0107, 1998.0108
NOTES:
Harry Leland Wallace (b. 1927) was born in San Francisco, California, to Leon H. and Anna R. (Haworth) Wallace. He attended Indiana University and received his LL.B. from Harvard University in 1952. Wallace served as a law clerk for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sherman Minton (1952-1953), and authored an unpublished biography of Minton in the early 1960's. He was admitted to the bar in 1953, and joined the firm of Foley and Lardner in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Wallace practiced in the areas of corporate law and tax law, and was made a partner in 1961. He retired in 1996. Wallace and his former wife, Mary Lue, were married in 1952; they divorced after 44 years of marriage. They have one daughter, Mary Ann (Wallace) Frantz.
Sherman Minton (1890-1965) was a Supreme Court Justice from 1949 to 1956. Minton, the son of John Evan and Emma (Livers) Minton, was born near Georgetown, Indiana ( Floyd Co.). He had one brother, Roscoe. Minton was educated at New Albany, Indiana. He received his LL.B. from Indiana University in 1915 and his LL.M. from Yale University a year later. Minton married Gertrude Gurtz in 1917; they had three children: Sherman, Mary Ann, and John Evan. He established a law practice in New Albany for a short time before serving in World War I (1917-1918). After the war, Minton returned to New Albany and entered the firm of Stotsenberg and Weathers. He was made a partner in 1922. From 1925 to 1928, he worked with the firm of Shutts and Bowen in Miami, Florida. Returning to New Albany again, Minton was appointed Public Counselor for the Public Service Commission by Governor Paul V. McNutt.
Minton was elected to a Democratic Senate seat in the U. S. Congress (1934-1940), where he championed Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal policies. He also supported Roosevelt's attempt to reorganize the Supreme Court (known as Roosevelt's "court-packing plan"). Minton served as a judge in the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals (1941-1949) before becoming the first Hoosier to serve as a Supreme Court Justice. He retired in 1956.
Sources: Material in the collection and collection accession file.
Current Biography (1949), p. 429.
Who's Who. 52 Edition (1998), p. 4492.
Who Was Who. Vol. 4, p. 666.
This collection consists of correspondence and papers relating to Harry L. Wallace. The material is arranged in chronological order. The correspondence includes letters from Sherman Minton to Wallace (1955-1964). They are of a personal nature, but also discuss political and legal issues of the day. A second set of correspondence (1960-1962) includes Wallace's exchanges with people from whom he sought information concerning Minton. This information was used in an unpublished Minton biography authored by Wallace in the early 1960's; a typescript copy of the biography, entitled "Hoosier Justice", is present in the collection. Portions of the biography were used in an article written by Wallace, entitled "Mr. Justice Minton, Hoosier Justice on the Supreme Court" (Indiana Law Journal, Vol. 34, no. 2 & 3).
A resolution in memory of Sherman Minton, materials relating to the 40th reunion of Supreme Court law clerks of 1951 and 1952, and miscellaneous items complete the collection. Miscellaneous items include an obituary of Sherman Minton and a typewritten quotation from Abraham Lincoln.
Correspondents in this collection include: Hugo LaFayette Black, Styles Bridges, Harold H. Burton, James Francis Byrnes, Tom C. Clark, Allen Joseph Ellender, James A. Farley, Felix Frankfurter, John M. Harlan, Henry Cabot Lodge, Thurgood Marshall, Frank McHale, Sherman Minton, Sam Rayburn, Harry S. Truman, Harry L. Wallace, Earl Warren, and Alexander Wiley.
FOLDER CONTENTS
MAIN ENTRY: Wallace, Harry L. (Harry Leland), 1927-
SUBJECT ENTRIES: Wallace, Harry L. (Harry Leland), 1927-
Minton, Sherman, 1890-1965
United States. Supreme Court
Law clerks--Washington, D.C.--Photographs
Lawyers--Wisconsin--Milwaukee
ADDED ENTRIES: Bridges, Styles, 1898-1961
Burton, Harold H. (Harold Hitz), 1888-1964
Byrnes, James Francis, 1879-1972
Ellender, Allen Joseph, 1890-1972
Farley, James A., 1888-1976
Harlan, John M. (John Marshall), 1899-1971
McHale, Frank Martin, 1891-1975
Rayburn, Sam, 1882-1961
Wiley, Alexander, 1884-1967
Hoosier justice
END