Oral history interview with Adolpho A. Birch, Jr., 22 June 2005.
(Document/manuscript/pamphlet/archival material)
Contributors
Status
Special Collections - Upon Request
SCC oral histories
1 available
SCC oral histories
1 available
Special Collections - Upon Request
Workroom range 1 section 8
1 available
Workroom range 1 section 8
1 available
Description
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Copies
Location | Call Number | Status |
---|---|---|
Special Collections - Upon Request | SCC oral histories | Library Use Only |
Special Collections - Upon Request | Workroom range 1 section 8 | Library Use Only |
Subjects
LC Subjects
African Americans -- Civil rights -- Tennessee -- Nashville.
African Americans -- Segregation -- Tennessee -- Nashville.
African Americans -- Social conditions.
Birch, Adolpho A., -- 1932-2011 -- Interviews.
Business enterprises -- Tennessee -- Nashville.
Central business districts -- Tennessee -- Nashville.
Civil rights -- Tennessee -- Nashville.
Civil rights movements -- Tennessee -- Nashville.
Civil rights workers -- Tennessee -- Nashville.
Ennix, Coyness L., -- 1898-1984.
Kent College of Law (Nashville, Tenn.).
Law -- Study and teaching -- Tennessee -- Nashville.
Law schools -- Tennessee -- Nashville.
Lawyers -- Tennessee -- Nashville.
Lillard, Robert Emmitt, -- 1907-1991.
Looby, Z. Alexander -- (Zephaniah Alexander), -- 1899-
Nashville (Tenn.) -- Commerce.
Nashville (Tenn.) -- History.
Nashville (Tenn.) -- Race relations.
Nashville (Tenn.) -- Social conditions.
Nashville (Tenn.) -- Social life and customs.
Practice of law -- Tennessee -- Nashville.
Washington (D.C.) -- History.
Washington (D.C.) -- Race relations.
Washington (D.C.) -- Social conditions.
Washington (D.C.) -- Social life and customs.
Williams, Avon N., -- 1921-1994.
Young Men's Christian Association.
African Americans -- Segregation -- Tennessee -- Nashville.
African Americans -- Social conditions.
Birch, Adolpho A., -- 1932-2011 -- Interviews.
Business enterprises -- Tennessee -- Nashville.
Central business districts -- Tennessee -- Nashville.
Civil rights -- Tennessee -- Nashville.
Civil rights movements -- Tennessee -- Nashville.
Civil rights workers -- Tennessee -- Nashville.
Ennix, Coyness L., -- 1898-1984.
Kent College of Law (Nashville, Tenn.).
Law -- Study and teaching -- Tennessee -- Nashville.
Law schools -- Tennessee -- Nashville.
Lawyers -- Tennessee -- Nashville.
Lillard, Robert Emmitt, -- 1907-1991.
Looby, Z. Alexander -- (Zephaniah Alexander), -- 1899-
Nashville (Tenn.) -- Commerce.
Nashville (Tenn.) -- History.
Nashville (Tenn.) -- Race relations.
Nashville (Tenn.) -- Social conditions.
Nashville (Tenn.) -- Social life and customs.
Practice of law -- Tennessee -- Nashville.
Washington (D.C.) -- History.
Washington (D.C.) -- Race relations.
Washington (D.C.) -- Social conditions.
Washington (D.C.) -- Social life and customs.
Williams, Avon N., -- 1921-1994.
Young Men's Christian Association.
Other Subjects
More Details
Format
Document/manuscript/pamphlet/archival material
Physical Desc
3 sound discs : digital ; 4 3/4 in.
2 sound cassettes (ca. 64 min.) : analog.
Transcript : 38 pages
2 sound cassettes (ca. 64 min.) : analog.
Transcript : 38 pages
Language
English
Notes
General Note
Materials housed in Special Collections Division of the Main Library, Nashville Public Library.
General Note
The interview consists of a transcript and sound recordings in two formats: 2 original audio cassettes recorded in 2002; and a set of 3 data CDs containing MP3 files (a master, a copy master, and a use copy). The original cassettes were digitized during a conversion project in 2006.
Restrictions on Access
In library use only. Available by appointment.
Description
Scope and content: Oral history interview with Nashville Civil Rights Movement participant Adolpho A. Birch, Jr., conducted on 22 June 2005 by John Egerton as part of the Nashville Public Library's Civil Rights Oral History Project. During the ca. 1 hour interview, Birch discusses such topics as his family; his education in Washington, D.C.; growing up in segregated Washington, D.C.; his service in the Navy; coming to Nashville to practice law in 1958; working with other Afican American leaders in Nashville, including Robert Lillard, Z. Alexander Looby, Avon Williams, Jr., and Coyness Ennix, Sr.; the YMCA Law School; his appointments to various positions, from assistant public defender for Davidson County to Chief Justice of the Tennessee Supreme Court; and his perception of Nashville today.
Preferred Citation of Described Materials
Cite as: Oral history interview with Adolpho A. Birch, Jr., Civil Rights Oral History Project, Special Collections Division, Nashville Public Library.
Terms Governing Use and Reproduction
This material may be protected by copyright law (Title 17 U.S. Code)
Biographical or Historical Data
Born in 1932 in Washington, D.C., Adolpho A. Birch, Jr. was the son of an Episcopal priest who had immigrated to the US from Belize just before World War I. Birch's mother died when he was five. He graduated from Washington, D.C.'s Dunbar High School in 1950 and went on to attend Lincoln University from 1950 to 1952. He received his BA and JD degrees from Howard University in 1956 and served as a member of the Howard Law Review. Almost immediately upon graduating, he entered the U.S. Naval Reserve, serving on active duty from 1956 to 1958 in the Mediterranean. While on leave in 1957, he took and passed the the Tennessee Bar exam. Birch moved to Nashville in 1958 to work with local African American real estate lawyer J.F. McClellan. He taught legal medicine at Meharry Medical College and lectured in law at Fisk and Tennessee State University. He maintained a private law practice from 1958 to 1966, working occasionally with other local lawyers such as Robert Lillard. Brich was appointed assistant public defender for Davidson County in 1963 and assistance district attorney general in 1966. He was appointed General Sessions Court of Davidson County judge in 1978, Trial Courts of Davidson County presiding judge in 1981, and a member of the Court of the Judiciary in 1983. In 1987, Birch was appointed to the Court of Criminal Appeals. In 1991, Birch joined the teaching faculty of the Nashville School of Law and has served as University of Memphis Distinguished Jurist in Residence. He was appointed to the Tennessee Supreme Court in 1993 and made Chief Justice in 1996, becoming the first African American to serve in this capacity. He retired from the Supreme Court in 2006, during which year the A.A. Birch building, which houses the Davidson County Criminal Courts, was dedicated in his honor in downtown Nashville.
Language
In English.
Cumulative Index/Finding Aids
Transcript available in repository.
Linking Entry Complexity
Forms part of: Civil Rights Oral History Project.
Citations
APA Citation, 7th Edition (style guide)
Birch, A. A., & Egerton, J. Oral history interview with Adolpho A. Birch, Jr. .
Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation, 17th Edition (style guide)Birch, Adolpho A., 1932-2011 and John, Egerton. Oral History Interview With Adolpho A. Birch, Jr.. .
Chicago / Turabian - Humanities (Notes and Bibliography) Citation, 17th Edition (style guide)Birch, Adolpho A., 1932-2011 and John, Egerton. Oral History Interview With Adolpho A. Birch, Jr. .
MLA Citation, 9th Edition (style guide)Birch, Adolpho A., and John Egerton. Oral History Interview With Adolpho A. Birch, Jr.
Note! Citations contain only title, author, edition, publisher, and year published. Citations should be used as a guideline and should be double checked for accuracy. Citation formats are based on standards as of August 2021.
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