Back to TopDescriptive Summary Including Abstract
- Title
- Susie Sharp Papers (#4898), 1900-1997
- Creator
-
Sharp, Susie.
- Extent
-
- About 17,100 items (70.0 linear feet)
- Repository
-
Southern Historical Collection
Abstract
Susie Marshall Sharp (1907-1996) of Reidsville, N.C., attorney and jurist, was elected chief justice of the North Carolina
Supreme Court in 1974, becoming the first woman elected chief justice of a state supreme court in the United States. A graduate
of the North Carolina College for Women and the University of North Carolina School of Law, Sharp began the practice of law
in Reidsville in 1929. She served as Reidsville city attorney, 1939-1949; North Carolina superior court judge until 1962;
and as supreme court justice, 1962-1979. The collection documents Susie Sharp's professional career and personal life through
correspondence, subject files, speeches, and other material, chiefly 1920s-1990s. Subject files contain clippings, memoranda,
and correspondence about judicial and personal matters. There are also speeches, chiefly on judicial topics, that Sharp delivered
beginning in the 1950s; notebooks in which she defined legal terms and cited precedents; and memoranda, opinions and other
materials related to cases she decided. Correspondence, speeches, and other materials document Sharp's 1974 campaign as Democratic
Party candidate for the chief justiceship, and there are related letters from friends and associates after her election and
her selection as one of twelve 1975 Time magazine Women of the Year. Some of the materials relate to William Haywood Bobbitt, whose retirement as chief justice made
way for Sharp's election, and to professors, particularly Albert Coates, and students at the University of North Carolina
School of Law and the North Carolina College for Women (now the University of North Carolina at Greensboro). Topics include
judicial reform and procedures, particularly relating to discipline of judges; women in the judiciary; women lawyers; women's
rights, including the Equal Rights Amendment; and prisoners' rights. Much of the personal correspondence is with Sharp family
members. The Addition of April 2008 contains correspondence between Susie Sharp and her siblings discussing trials and family
affairs, postcards from various Sharp family members, a photograph of Sharp's father James Merrit Sharp, a scrapbook compiled
by Sharp's mother Annie Britt Blackwell Sharp, clippings, and a music lesson book.
- Language
-
English.
Back to TopAdministrative Information
- Access
- No restrictions
- Usage Restrictions
- Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright
law.
- Provenance
- Received from Susie Sharp through Anna Ragland Hayes in November 1997 (Acc. 97147) and January 2001 (Acc. 98825), from James
V. Sharp in July 1998 (Acc. 98168) and in January 2005 (Acc. 99984), and from Lawrence A. Taylor in April 2008 (Acc. 100899).
- Processing Information
- Processed by: Arturo S. Bagley, August 1999
- Encoded by: Arturo S. Bagley, August 1999
- Finding aid updated in August 2002 by Bridget T. Lerette, in July 2005 by Ashley Doar, and in July 2008 by Kathryn Roth.
- The Additions of January 2001 and January 2005 are arranged in the same way as, but have not been incorporated into, the original
deposit of materials.
Back to TopOnline Catalog Terms
-
Bobbitt, William Haywood, 1900-1992.
-
Coates, Albert, 1896-
-
Courts--North Carolina--History--20th century.
-
Democratic Party (N.C.).
-
Equal rights amendments--United States.
-
Family--North Carolina--Social life and customs.
-
Judges--Discipline--United States.
-
Judges--Elections--North Carolina--History--20th century.
-
Judges--North Carolina--History--20th century.
-
Lawyers--North Carolina--History--20th century.
-
North Carolina College for Women.
-
North Carolina. Supreme Court--History--20th century.
-
Politica campaigns--North Carolina--History--20th century.
-
Prisoners--Civil rights.
-
Reidsville (N.C.)--Social life and customs.
-
Sharp family.
-
Sharp, Susie.
-
University of North Carolina (1793-1962). School of Law--Students.
-
University of North Carolina at Greensboro--History.
-
Women judges--North Carolina--History--20th century.
-
Women law students--North Carolina.
-
Women lawyers--North Carolina.
-
Women's rights--United States--History--20th century.
Back to TopRelated Collections
William Haywood Bobbitt Papers (#4637)
Albert Coates Papers (#3818)
Back to TopBiographical Note
Susie Marshall Sharp was born in Rocky Mount, N.C., on 7 July 1907 to James Merritt Sharp and Annie Britt Blackwell Sharp.
She was the eldest of seven children who survived to adulthood, including Sally Blackwell, Annie Hill, Thomas Adolphus, Louise
Wortham, Florence Abigail, and James Vance.
James Merritt Sharp was born 26 September 1877. In 1900, he established Sharp Institute, a co-educational day and boarding
school. The school burned down in 1907. Sharp had been studying law, and the end of his teaching career led to one as a lawyer.
Sharp passed the Supreme Court's bar examination in 1908. In 1914, he moved his practice to Reidsville, N.C., where he remained
for the next 38 years. He served in the North Carolina State Senate in 1925 and 1927, representing the 17th district.
Annie Britt Blackwell (4 March 1884-9 April 1971), the daughter of John Pomfret Blackwell and Sally Wortham Blackwell, was
a teacher at Sharp Institute. She married James Merritt Sharp in 1906.
Susie Marshall Sharp, the couple's first child, was named after her mother's younger sister Susie and her Civil War grandfather,
James Marshall Sharp. Susie Sharp attended Reidsville public schools from 1914 to 1924. An excellent student and a champion
debater, she was chosen class salutatorian. Following her graduation from high school in 1924 and her entrance to the North
Carolina College for Women (now the University of North Carolina at Greensboro), Sharp developed an interest in chemistry.
In part because of her debating ability, however, she had been encouraged to become a lawyer, and, in 1926, following an all-night
session of wrestling over her decision, she chose law over chemistry.
In 1926, Sharp entered the School of Law at the University of North Carolina, the only woman in her class. She soon encountered
the entrenched attitudes of the time against women being lawyers. In spite of the obstacles, Sharp became an editor of the
North Carolina Law Review and a member of the Order of the Coif. She received her LL.B. degree with honors in 1929. Sharp passed the bar examination
in 1928 while still in school and returned to Reidsville in 1929 to practice law with her father. In the early 1930s, Sharp
served as secretary and legal researcher at the University of North Carolina School of Law. Sharp was a rarity as a female
lawyer at the time; women were not allowed to serve on juries in North Carolina until 1946.
Sharp was appointed Reidsville's city attorney in 1939. In 1948, her growing influence in the governmental and political affairs
of Rockingham County led her father's friend Kerr Scott to appoint her as his campaign manager for Rockingham County in the
Democratic primary for governor. In the summer of 1949, Governor Scott appointed Susie Sharp to the North Carolina Superior
Court bench, making her the first female judge in the history of the state. Judge Sharp's first term established her interest
in prison conditions, a concern she maintained for the remainder of her career.
Governor Terry Sanford appointed Sharp to the North Carolina Supreme Court on 9 March 1962. Justice Sharp's appointment made
her the first female member of the court and only the second associate justice at that time from Rockingham County, Thomas
Settle having preceded her nearly 100 years earlier in 1868. She was elected in November to fill the remainder of Associate
Justice Emory Denny's term, and, in 1966, she was elected to a full eight-year term.
Forced by a newly enacted retirement law to retire in 1974, Chief Justice William Haywood Bobbitt and the rest of the court
encouraged Sharp, as the senior associate justice, to seek the chief justiceship. In 1974, she became the first female in
the United States to be elected chief justice of a state supreme court, garnering 74% of the vote.
During Justice Sharp's 17-year tenure on the court, she wrote 459 majority opinions. Her first reported case was Trust Company v. Willis, 257 N.C. 59 (1962), and her last reported case was Pipkin v. Thomas & Hill, Inc., 298 N.C. 278 (1979). In addition, she authored 124 concurring opinions and 45 dissenting opinions.
Sharp's major opinions include: Toone v. Adams, 262 N.C. 403 (1964), about an umpire's right to sue a baseball team and manager who had incited the crowd against him; D & W, Inc. v. Charlotte, 268 N.C. 577 (1966), ruling that brown-bagging in restaurants was not permitted under the law then in existence; Rabon v. Rowan Memorial Hospital, Inc., 269 N.C. 1 (1967), abolishing hospitals' immunity from liability under the charitable immunity doctrine; Hall v. Board of Elections, 280 N.C. 600 (1972), establishing criteria for college students' eligibility to vote where they went to college; Smith v. State, 289 N.C. 303 (1976), that limited the ancient doctrine of "sovereign immunity"; and In re Peoples, 296 N.C. 109 (1978), the first decision removing a judge for willful misconduct in office.
Chief Justice Sharp successfully advocated for a constitutional amendment, passed in 1980, requiring that all judges be lawyers,
after having faced fire extinguisher salesman James Newcomb as her Republican opponent for the chief justiceship.
Sharp received many honors, beginning in 1950 with an honorary LL.D. degree from the North Carolina College for Women. She
received an L.H.D. degree from Pfeiffer College in 1960 and LL.D.s from Queens College in 1962, Elon College in 1963, Wake
Forest College in 1965, Catawba College in 1970, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1970, and Duke University
in 1974. In 1952, the February issue of the Ladies Home Journal recognized her as one of the 13 outstanding women in public office throughout the country. Twenty-four years later, she was
selected by Time magazine in its 6 January 1976 issue as one of 12 women of the year for 1975.
Sharp's accomplishments resulted in a series of awards from women's organizations including the 1959 Achievement Citation
from the North Carolina Federation of Business and Professional Women's Clubs, the Distinguished Service Award for Women from
the Chi Omega Sorority in 1959, the Alumni Service Award from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 1975, and
the Special Award for Outstanding Legal Achievement from the New York Women's Bar Association in 1976.
Back to TopCollection Overview
The collection documents Susie Sharp's professional career and personal life through correspondence, subject files, speeches,
and other material, chiefly 1920s-1990s. Subject files contain clippings, memoranda, and correspondence about judicial and
personal matters. There are also speeches, chiefly on judicial topics, that Sharp delivered beginning in the 1950s; notebooks in which she defined legal terms and cited precedents; and memoranda,
opinions and other materials related to cases she decided. Correspondence, speeches, and other materials document Sharp's
1974 campaign as Democratic Party candidate for the chief justiceship, and there are related letters from friends and associates after her election and her selection as one of twelve 1975 Time magazine Women of the Year. Some of the materials relate to William Haywood Bobbitt, whose retirement as chief justice made way for Sharp's election, and to professors, particularly Albert Coates, and students at the University of North Carolina School of Law and the North Carolina College for Women (now the University of North Carolina at Greensboro). Topics include judicial reform and procedures, particularly relating to discipline of judges; women in the judiciary; women lawyers; women's rights, including the Equal Rights Amendment; and prisoners' rights. Much of the personal correspondence is with Sharp family members and friends, 1920s-1980s, although there are no letters from the 1950s and few from the 1960s. The Addition
of April 2008 contains correspondence between Susie Sharp and her siblings discussing trials and family affairs, postcards
from various Sharp family members, a photograph of Sharp's father James Merrit Sharp, a scrapbook compiled by Sharp's mother
Annie Britt Blackwell Sharp, clippings, and a music lesson book.
Back to TopOrganization of Collection
1. Office Files
1.1. General Subject Files
1.2. 1974 Chief Justice Campaign Files
1.3. General Correspondence Files
1.4. Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court and Time Magazine Files
1.5. Speech Files
1.6. Case Files
1.7. Legal Notebooks
2. Personal Correspondence
2.1. 1900-1929
2.2. 1930-1949
2.3. 1960-1989
2.4. 1990-1997
Addition of January 2001 (Acc. 98825)
1. Office Files
1.1. General Subject Files
1.2. 1974 Chief Justice Campaign Files
1.3. General Correspondence Files
1.4. Speech Files
1.5. Case Files
1.6. Legal Notebooks
2. Personal Correspondence
2.1. 1900-1929
2.2. 1930-1949
2.3. 1960-1989
Addition of January 2005 (Acc. 99984)
1. Office Files
1.1. General Subject Files
1.2. General Correspondence Files
1.3. Speech Files
1.4. Case Files
1.5. Opinions
1.6. Clippings
2. Personal Correspondence
2.1. 1900-1929
2.2. 1930-1949
2.3. 1960-1989
2.4. 1990-1997
3. Pictures
Addition of April 2008 (Acc. 100899)
Back to TopItems Separated
Image Folders (P-4898/1-2)
Oversize pictures (OP-P-4898/1-2)
Oversize papers (OP-4898A/1, OP-4898B/1)
Audio recording (D-4898/1)
Series Descriptions
1. Office Files, 1929-April 1986.
About 3,000 items.
Processing note: See also Additions of January 2001 and January 2005.
Back to Top
1.1. General Subject Files, July 1946, August 1963-July 1985.
About 2,000 items.
Processing note: See also Additions of January 2001 and January 2005.
Arrangement: alphabetical by subject.
Letters, memoranda, magazine and newspaper articles, pamphlets, research materials, and other items chiefly documenting Susie
Sharp's professional, but with some materials relating to her personal life.
While most of the items date from the late 1960s on, the materials on the Fultz quadruplets, for whom Sharp served as trustee, contain letters from earlier in the decade and a 1946 deed by which Sharp's
father sold property to the Fultz family.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation folders document Sharp's involvement in a presidential commission to recommend a successor to FBI Director Clarence M. Kelley. Sharp had initially begged off the assignment when contacted by Vice President Walter F. Mondale but agreed when importuned by Attorney General Griffin Bell, an old acquaintance.
The judicial district files contain information about judges who had been accused of wrongdoing. There is similar material
in files under the name of particular judges (e.g., such as Ken Griffin) and in the In re Peoples materials in Series 1.6.
The materials on Albert Coates include correspondence, newspaper clippings, and remarks Sharp made at a ceremony honoring him. Coates was one of Sharp's
teachers at the University of North Carolina School of Law and the founder of the Institute of Government at UNC.
Prison letters are from prisoners complaining about prison conditions or about the circumstances of their convictions. Sharp was known to have a long-standing
interest in maintaining humane prison conditions.
There is a substantial amount of material, including newspaper clippings and correspondence, on the Equal Rights Amendment. Despite her role as a trailblazer for women lawyers, women judges, and women in government generally, Sharp received criticism from some quarters for her opposition to the Equal Rights Amendment. Sharp believed that,
while women must be afforded equal opportunities, their position in society entitled them to certain preferential protections,
such as pensions, that a rigorous interpretation of the Equal Rights Amendment would destroy.
Note that Sharp's original folder titles have, for the most part, been retained.
Folder
1
Administrative Office of the Courts
Folder
2
Advisory Opinion Regarding Constitutional Amendment Election
Folder
3
Allowance of Attorneys' Fees
Folder
4
Alumni Associations
Folder
5
American Bar Association
Folder
6
The American Bench--Judges of the Nation
Folder
7
Appellate Judges Seminars
Folder
8
Autobiographical Materials
Folder
9
Automobile
Folder
10
Bar Meetings, 1975
Folder
11
Bickett, William Y., Judge
Folder
12-15
Bobbitt, William H., Justice
Folder
16
Bonds: Mitchell v. Authority, 273 N.C. 137
Folder
17
Books
Folder
18
Branch, Joseph, Justice
Folder
19
Britt, David M., Justice
Folder
20
Brock, Walter, Justice
Folder
21-22
Capital Punishment
Folder
23
Carlton, J. Phil, Justice
Folder
24
Removed by donor
Folder
25
Ceremonials
Folder
26
Certificates of Election and Oaths of Office
Folder
27
Change of Address
Folder
28
Chapel Hill Matters
Folder
29
Chief District Judges Meeting
Folder
30-31
Clippings
Folder
32
Clippings for Book Club Programs
Folder
33-35
Coates, Albert
Folder
36
Coffee Hour
Folder
37-48
Conference of Chief Justices
Folder
49
Conference of Superior Court Judges and District Court Judges
Folder
50
Conference of Superior Court Judges: Committee on Salaries, Expenses and Retirement Benefits
Folder
51
Conference Rules
Folder
52
Copeland, J. William, Justice
Folder
53-54
Counsel Fees for Indigent Defendants
Folder
55
Court of Appeals
Folder
56
Court of Appeals Rules
Folder
57
Crackpot File
Folder
58
Criminal Justice Information Systems
Folder
59
Death Penalty
Folder
60
Defense of Capital Cases
Folder
61
Delta Kappa Gamma
Folder
62
Devin, William A., Justice: Portrait
Folder
63
Directed Verdict
Folder
64
District Judges/Chief District Court Judges
Folder
65
Dukakis, Michael: Presidential Campaign
Folder
66
Duties of the Chief Justice
Folder
67
East Carolina University
Folder
68
Edgewater
Folder
69
Election Returns
Folder
70
Electoral College
Folder
71-76
Equal Rights Amendment
Folder
77-78
Ervin, Sam, Senator
Folder
79
Estate by the Entireties
Folder
80
Ethics and Advocacy
Folder
81
Exclusionary Rule
Folder
82
Executives Club
Folder
83
Exum, James G., Justice
Folder
84-86
Federal Bureau of Investigation Meeting
Folder
87-88
Federal Habeas Corpus
Folder
89
Free Press v. Fair Trial
Folder
90
Freeman, Franklin
Folder
91
Friday, William C.
Folder
92
Fultz Quadruplets
Folder
93
General Statutes
Folder
94
Governor's Crime Commission
Folder
95
Griffin, Ken, Judge
Folder
96-97
Gwyn Memorial
Folder
98
Health Matters
Folder
99
Hope Plantation
Folder
100-101
Hunt, Jim, Governor
Folder
102
Huskins, J. Frank, Justice
Folder
103
Inauguration, 1977
Folder
104
Insurance
Folder
105
International Year of the Child
Folder
106-109
Invitations, 1975-1977
Folder
110-116
Invitations to Speaking Engagements, 1974-1984
Folder
117
Journal of Rockingham County History and Genealogy
Folder
118
Joyner, William T.: Publications Endowment
Folder
119
Judges' Administrative Week
Folder
120-124
Judges: Appointment: Governor Jim Hunt's Plan
Folder
125
Judges: Censured
Folder
126-127
Judges: Complaints and Praise
Folder
128
Judges: Continuing Judicial Education
Folder
129
Judges: Non-attorney
Folder
130-136
Judges: Salaries (see also Judicial Salaries)
Folder
137-139
Judges: Selection
Folder
140-141
Judicial Council
Folder
142-165
Judicial Districts
Folder
166-170
Judicial Ethics
Folder
171
Judicial Planning Committee
Folder
172
Judicial Retirement
Folder
173-174
Judicial Salaries (see also Judges: Salaries)
Folder
175-176
Judicial Standards Commission
Folder
177
Jury and Grand Jury
Folder
178-179
Justice Building
Folder
180
Juvenile Code Revision Committee
Folder
181
Kennedy, Edward, Senator
Folder
182-183
Lake, I. Beverly, Justice
Folder
184-185
Law Clerks
Folder
186-187
Legal Questions
Folder
188-193
Legislative File, 1969 and 1977
Folder
194
Letters of Recommendation for United States Supreme Court
Folder
195
Magistrates
Folder
196
Manning, Allen
Folder
197
Memoranda to Justices
Folder
198
Metric System
Folder
199
Miscellaneous Research
Folder
200
Montague, Bert
Folder
201
Moore, Dan K., Justice
Folder
202
Mordecai Square Historical Society
Folder
203
Morris, Naomi, Chief Judge
Folder
204-207
National Center for State Courts Meeting, Williamsburg, March 1978
Folder
208
National Conference on the Causes of Popular Dissatisfaction with the Administration of Justice
Folder
209
National Judicial College
Folder
210
North Carolina Association of District Court Judges Meeting, Asheville, N.C., 1978
Folder
211
North Carolina Awards Commission
Folder
212-213
North Carolina Bar Association
Folder
214
North Carolina Citizens Association
Folder
215
North Carolina Code of Judicial Conduct
Folder
216
North Carolina Commission on the Bicentennial of the United States Constitution
Folder
217
North Carolina Court History
Folder
218
North Carolina Criminal Justice Information Security and Privacy Board
Folder
219
North Carolina Index
Folder
220
North Carolina Legislative Directories
Folder
221-222
North Carolina Prisons
Folder
223-224
North Carolina State Bar
Folder
225-230
North Carolina Supreme Court (see also Personnel)
Folder
231
Oaths
Folder
232
Obscenity
Folder
233-234
Oddities
Folder
235
Open Courts
Folder
236
Our Webb Kin of Dixie
Folder
237
Outer Banks
Folder
238
Passport
Folder
239-241
Pennrose Park Country Club
Folder
242-243
Personnel of North Carolina Supreme Court (see also North Carolina Supreme Court)
Folder
244-246
Pertinent Personalities
Folder
247
Pfeiffer College
Folder
248
Price, J. Hampton
Folder
249
Prison Conditions
Folder
250-259
Prison Letters
Folder
260
Probation
Folder
261-262
Proposed North Carolina Rules of Appellate Procedure
Folder
263
Public Information Officer
Folder
264
Sir Walter Raleigh Memorial
Folder
265-267
Rape
Folder
268
Recipes
Folder
269
Reid, David E., Judge
Folder
270
Religion
Folder
271
Requests for Autographs
Folder
272
Résumé
Folder
273
Retirement
Folder
274
Right to Counsel
Folder
275-277
Rockingham County Historical Society
Folder
278
Roof Repair
Folder
279
Ruffin, Thomas, Chief Justice
Folder
280
Ruffin Statue
Folder
281
School Desegregation
Folder
282
Sea Island, Ga., Trip
Folder
283
Seat Belts
Folder
284
Senior Citizens
Folder
285-286
Sharp Family
Folder
287
Silver Paul Revere Bowl
Folder
288
Southeastern Judicial and Selective Enforcement Conference
Folder
289
Speaker Ban Law
Folder
290
Speedy Trial
Folder
291
Spicer-Breckenridge Memorial Lecture
Folder
292
State of the Judiciary
Folder
293
Subpoenas and Suits
Folder
294
Suggested Court and Conference Rules
Folder
295
Superior Court Judges
Folder
296-298
Swearing in Ceremonies
Folder
299
Takings of Land by Highway Commission
Folder
300
Telegrams
Folder
301-303
Television in Court
Folder
304
Tobacco
Folder
305
Uniform Sentencing
Folder
306
United States Supreme Court
Folder
307
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill: 50th Class Reunion
Folder
308
University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Folder
309
University of North Carolina at Greensboro: Alumni Service Award
Folder
310
University of North Carolina at Wilmington
Folder
311
Valentine Museum
Folder
312
Vanore, Andy
Folder
313
We the People of North Carolina Magazine Article
Folder
314
"Why 65? The Right to Choose"
Folder
315
Who's Who Materials
Folder
316-318
Wilmington 10
Folder
319
Wilson Pest Control Company
Folder
320
Woman's Club of Raleigh
Folder
321
Women
Folder
322
Women Judges and Women Attorneys
Folder
323
Writ of Habeas Corpus
Folder
324
Wrongful Death
Back to Top
1.2. 1974 Chief Justice Campaign Files, July 1973-November 1974.
About 350 items.
Processing note: See also Addition of January 2001.
Arrangement: alphabetical.
Newspaper clippings, magazine articles, correspondence, invoices, and other materials related to Susie Sharp's campaign for
election to the position of chief justice on the North Carolina Supreme Court. In 1974, Chief Justice William H. Bobbitt was forced to step down due to a law requiring judges to retire at age 72. Justice Sharp was next in line in seniority, but
she had to be elected to the position. She expected that her Republican opponent would be Elreta Alexander, a state district judge. Alexander was defeated in the primary, however, by Jim Newcomb, a businessman without any legal training or experience. Sharp made the importance of legal experience the central theme
of her campaign.
Note that Sharp's original folder titles have, for the most part, been retained. See also folder 477 for speeches given during
the campaign.
Folder
325
Advertising
Folder
326
Alexander, Elreta, Judge
Folder
327
Alexander, Lelia M.
Folder
328
Announcement and Filing
Folder
329
Armstrong, Frank M., Judge
Folder
330
Asheville/Concord
Folder
331
Brochures Mailed
Folder
332-335
Campaign Contributions
Folder
336
Campaign Expenses
Folder
337
Campaign Report Transmittals and Tharrington Correspondence
Folder
338
Candidacy Filing Statement and Personal Data
Folder
339
Charlotte Speech
Folder
340
Cherokee County
Folder
341
Collier, Robert, Judge
Folder
342-343
Correspondence: A-C
Folder
344
Correspondence: D-F
Folder
345-346
Correspondence: G-I
Folder
347
Correspondence: J-L
Folder
348
Correspondence: M-O
Folder
349
Correspondence: P-R
Folder
350
Correspondence: S-U
Folder
351
Correspondence: V-Z
Folder
352
Correspondence with Contributors
Folder
353
Counties
Folder
354
County Commissioners
Folder
355
Cumberland County
Folder
356
Democratic Campaign Committee
Folder
357
Democratic Convention
Folder
358
Democratic Executive Committee
Folder
359
Democratic Party Platform
Folder
360
Democratic Women of North Carolina
Folder
361
Duties of the Chief Justice
Folder
362
Guilford County
Folder
363
Haywood County
Folder
364
Headquarters
Folder
365
Invitations for Speaking Engagements
Folder
366
Labor Party
Folder
367
Lists
Folder
368
Lyon, Virginia
Folder
369
Multiple Mailings
Folder
370-371
Newcomb, Jim
Folder
372
News Releases
Folder
373
Newspaper Directories
Folder
374
Newspaper, Television, and Radio Schedule
Folder
375
Official Election File
Folder
376
Pless, J. Will, Justice
Folder
377
Poll
Folder
378
Possible Campaign Workers and Campaign Materials
Folder
379
Precinct Committees
Folder
380
Radio, TV, and Newspaper Information
Folder
381
Stockton, Ralph
Folder
382
Supplies: Invoices
Folder
383
Thank You Letters
Folder
384
Tharrington, J. Harold
Folder
385
Time, Newsweek, and U.S. News & World Report Articles
Folder
386
Unanswered Letters
Folder
387
Unidentified Speech
Folder
388
Volunteers
Folder
389
Wake County Democratic Executive Committee
Folder
390
Winston-Salem
Folder
391
Women and Equal Rights
Folder
392
Women's Rallies
Back to Top
1.3. General Correspondence, October 1972-April 1986.
About 350 items.
Processing note: See also Additions of January 2001 and January 2005.
Arrangement: alphabetical by correspondent.
Much of this correspondence is of a professional nature, but there are many personal letters, particularly to and from Sharp
family members.
Folder
393
A
Folder
394-395
B
Folder
396-398
C
Folder
399
D
Folder
400
E
Folder
401-402
F
Folder
403-404
G
Folder
405-407
H
Folder
408
I
Folder
409
J
Folder
410
K
Folder
411
L
Folder
412-414
M
Folder
415
N
Folder
416
O
Folder
417-418
P
Folder
419-421
R
Folder
422-424
S
Folder
425-426
T
Folder
427
V
Folder
428-429
W
Folder
430
Y-Z
Back to Top
1.4. Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court and Time Magazine Files, November 1974-January 1976.
About 150 items.
Arrangement: alphabetical.
Correspondence offering Sharp congratulations on her 1974 election to the chief justiceship of the North Carolina Supreme Court and her selection as one of Time magazine Women of the Year, 1975.
Folder
431
A
Folder
432
B
Folder
433
C
Folder
434
D
Folder
435
E
Folder
436
F
Folder
437
G
Folder
438
H
Folder
439
I
Folder
440
J
Folder
441
K
Folder
442
L
Folder
443
M
Folder
444
N
Folder
445
O
Folder
446
P
Folder
447
R
Folder
448
S
Folder
449
T
Folder
450
V
Folder
451
W
Folder
452
Y-Z
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1.5. Speech Files, April 1959-September 1981.
About 30 items.
Processing note: See also Additions of January 2001 and January 2005.
Arrangement: alphabetical by speech title or group/occasion.
Texts of various speeches Susie Sharp delivered during her career, most of which relate to the law and her experiences. Please
note that a few speeches may be found elsewhere in the collection, particularly in the General Subject Files (Series 1.1).
Folder
453
"Breaking the Barriers Which Face Women in Public Affairs"
Folder
454
Buncombe County Democratic Women's Club, 25 July 1974
Folder
455
Caswell County Courthouse Dedication, July 1976
Folder
456
Chi Omega Service Award, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 3 April 1959
Folder
457
"Common Errors in Appellate Practice--The Mechanism by which the Court Considers Appeals"
Folder
458
Elon College Commencement
Folder
459
4th Congressional District, Fall 1974
Folder
460
Greensboro Bar Association, 19 September 1974
Folder
461
Justice James Iredell Papers Ceremony, 29 September 1976
Folder
462
Joan Mondale Introduction
Folder
463
Judge Naomi Elizabeth Morris Night
Folder
464
National Conference of Law Reviews, 31 March 1978
Folder
465
New York Women's Bar Association, 17 May 1976
Folder
466
North Carolina Bar Association, 2 July 1975
Folder
467
North Carolina Sheriffs' Association Annual Conference, 30 July 1974
Folder
468
North Carolina State Bar Annual Meeting, 26 October 1962
Folder
469
North Carolina State Bar Annual Meeting, 17 October 1975
Folder
470
North Carolina State Bar Annual Meeting, 22 October 1976
Folder
471
Peace College
Folder
472
Phi Alpha Delta
Folder
473
Resident Judge and District Attorney Swearing-in Ceremony, 1 September 1981
Folder
474
Rockingham Community College Commencement, 19 May 1974
Folder
475
Superior Court Judges, 17 March 1978
Folder
476
Unidentified
Folder
477
Various Speeches During Chief Justice Campaign (see also Series 1.2)
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1.6. Case Files, 1962-1979.
About 150 items.
Processing note: See also Additions of January 2001 and January 2005.
Arrangement: alphabetical by case name.
Research memoranda and opinions delivered in various cases during Susie Sharp's tenure on the North Carolina Supreme Court. Cases of note include D & W, Inc. v. Charlotte, 268 N.C. 577 (1966), ruling that brown-bagging in restaurants was not permitted under the law then in existence, and In re Peoples, 296 N.C. 109 (1978), the first opinion of this court removing a judge from office for willful misconduct in office.
Folder
478
AT & T v. Griffin
Folder
479
"Brown Bag" Case (D & W v. City of Charlotte)
Folder
480
Camby v. Southern Railway
Folder
481
Campbell v. First Baptist Church
Folder
482
Carolinas-Virginias Association of Building Owners and Managers v. Ingram
Folder
483
FDIC v. Loft Apartments
Folder
484
Garrison v. Miller
Folder
485
Hankerson v. North Carolina
Folder
486
Hasty v. Carpenter
Folder
487
Hennessee v. Cogburn
Folder
488
In the Matter of Mathias P. Hunoval
Folder
489
Leasing v. Brown
Folder
490
Mullaney v. Wilbur
Folder
491
North Carolina v. Alford
Folder
492-496
In Re Peoples
Folder
497
Pipkin v. Thomas & Hill
Folder
498
Scales Case
Folder
499
Spencer v. Sharp
Folder
500
State v. Branch
Folder
501
State v. Covington
Folder
502
State v. Crews & Parrish
Folder
503
State v. Du Pree
Folder
504
State v. Emory
Folder
505
State v. Fox
Folder
506
State v. Futrell
Folder
507
State v. Lawrence
Folder
508
State v. Seymour
Folder
509
State v. Small
Folder
510
State v. Vick
Folder
511
State v. Winfrey
Folder
512
Variety Theatres v. Cleveland County
Folder
513
Williams v. Biscuitville
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1.7. Legal Notebooks, 1929-1979.
7 items.
Arrangement: alphabetical by term defined.
Contents of seven three-ring binders with definitions of legal terms and doctrines. The papers from each binder have been
arranged alphabetically, but separated to show the structure of the original seven binders. Some of the binders were clearly
begun early in Susie Sharp's legal career, with others started after she was on the bench.
Folder
514-520
A-B
Folder
521-527
C-D
Folder
528-535
E-F
Folder
536-542
G-H
Folder
543-549
I-K
Folder
550-556
L-M
Folder
557-563
N-P
Folder
564-570
Q-R
Folder
571-577
S-T
Folder
578-584
U-Z
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2. Personal Correspondence, 1900-1989.
About 1,100 items.
Processing note: See also Additions of January 2001 and January 2005.
Arrangement: alphabetical by correspondent.
Susie Sharp's personal correspondence with family and friends. The letters begin in the 1920s and continue through the 1980s.
There is a noticeable lack of correspondence in the 1950s and only a smattering in the 1960s. Some personal letters that Sharp
kept in her office files may be found in Series 1, particularly the Sharp Family folder in the Series 1.1, Series 1.3, and
Series 1.4.
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2.1. 1900-1929.
About 200 items.
Processing note: See also Additions of January 2001 and January 2005.
Arrangement: alphabetical.
Personal letters written to and from Susie Sharp, mostly in the 1920s. Included are letters from her father and mother, James Merritt Sharp and Annie Britt Blackwell Sharp, as well as from her siblings Annie, Sallie, Tommy, Florence, and Louise. Other correspondents were Sharp's mother's sister
Susie Webb Blackwell Garrett, her husband A. Earle Garrett, Sr., and their son A. Earle Garrett, Jr.
Sharp's friends from Reidsville included Margaret Fillman and Janie Sands. The High School Notes folder contains notes passed to Sharp from classmates in her secondary school. Nuion Boulliat was Sharp's pen pal from France, and Constance Gwaltney was a friend from the North Carolina College for Women.
Correspondents connected with the University of North Carolina include law professor Millard Breckenridge and his wife Venitah and students, including Maude Brown, Dorothy Fahs, Lee Kennett, Lina Keller, Howard Gibson Godwin, and Eleanor Torrens. Ruby Ross was a secretary in the law school.
The only letter written before the 1920s is a 1900 love letter to Sharp's mother.
Folder
585
Averitt, Edith
Folder
586
B
Folder
587
Bacon, Mabel
Folder
588
Baird, Lucy
Folder
589-590
Boulliat, Nuion
Folder
591
Breckenridge, Millard S.
Folder
592
Breckenridge, Venitah
Folder
593
Brown, Maude
Folder
594
Counts, Donie
Folder
595
C
Folder
596
D
Folder
597
E
Folder
598
F
Folder
599
Fahs, Dorothy
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