Jefferson Deems Johnson papers, 1915-1980

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Summary

Creator:
Johnson, Jefferson Deems, Jr., 1900-1960
Abstract:
Lawyer, judge, and state senator, of Clinton and Raleigh, N.C. Correspondence, printed matter, clippings, and other papers, relating mainly to North Carolina politics, especially the senatorial campaigns of 1948 and 1950. Includes legislative papers (1937-1941) on Johnson's service in the North Carolina Senate; material relating to tobacco-production quotas under the Agricultural Adjustment Administration; materials from Johnson's judicial career; and papers from Joseph Melville Broughton, North Carolina Governor and senator, and Frank Porter Graham, U.S. Senator and president of the University of North Carolina. Correspondents include Broughton, Graham, and Samuel Lubbell.
Extent:
7 Linear Feet
2720 Items
Language:
Material in English
Collection ID:
RL.00637

Background

Scope and content:

The collection includes correspondence, printed matter, clippings, and other papers, relating mainly to North Carolina politics, especially the senatorial campaigns of 1948 and 1950. Includes legislative papers (1937-1941) on Johnson's service in the North Carolina Senate, material relating to tobacco-production quotas under the Agricultural Adjustment Administration, material from his service on the Supreme Court of N.C., and materials from Joseph Melville Broughton, North Carolina Governor and senator, and Frank Porter Graham, U.S. Senator and president of the University of North Carolina. Correspondents include Broughton, Graham, and Samuel Lubbell.

The Campaign Recordings series consists of original audio recordings from the 1948 and 1950 Senatorial campaigns. These are closed to use due to preservation concerns. Please contact Research Services if you are interested in these materials.

Biographical / historical:

Originally from Garland, North Carolina, Jefferson D. Johnson, Jr., attended Garland High School and Trinity Park School in Durham before enrolling in Trinity College in 1919. He served as a private in World War I before returning to college and graduating with a B.A. in 1923. Johnson was an active member of Trinity's Sigma Chi fraternity and also played semi-professional baseball. After teaching for a year, he returned to Trinity and earned a law degree in 1926. In 1935, he married Frances Faison. The couple eventually had three children.

Johnson became the Town Attorney for Clinton, N.C., and served from 1928-1941. He also successfully ran for State Senator of the 9th District in 1937 and 1941. In 1941, he was appointed Special Superior Court Judge, where he served until 1945. He managed the successful U.S. Senate campaign of J. Melville Broughton in 1948, as well as the unsuccessful U.S. Senate campaign of Franklin P. Graham in 1950. The 1950 campaign was extremely controversial, with Graham's opponent, Willis Smith, using racist language and personal attacks on Graham to gather the support of white voters afraid of desegregation.

In that same year, 1950, Johnson was elected Associate Justice of the State Supreme Court. He served until forced to retire from illness in 1959. He died shortly afterward in 1960.

Acquisition information:
The Jefferson Deems Johnson Papers were received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book Manuscript Library as a gift in 1963 and in 2011.
Processing information:

Processed by Rubenstein Staff, 1963, and Meghan Lyon, September 2011

Encoded by Meghan Lyon, September 2011

Accession(s) described in this finding aid: 1963; 2011-0170

Materials may not have been ordered and described beyond their original condition.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged into two batches that reflect the order of arrival of the materials. There is some content overlap between boxes 1-12 and boxes 14-16, so please check the boxlist thoroughly if you are searching for particular items or topics.

The condition of many materials is quite poor, particularly the printed materials and manuscripts from the Senatorial campaign of 1950. Water damage from long ago has left stains and tears on the pages, and some are quite warped and delicate. Please use caution when handling this collection.

Physical location:
For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Contents

Using These Materials

Using These Materials Links:

Using These Materials

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws before using this collection.

All or portions of this collection may be housed off-site in Duke University's Library Service Center. The library may require up to 48 hours to retrieve these materials for research use.

Please contact Research Services staff before visiting the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library to use this collection.

Terms of access:

The copyright interests in this collection have not been transferred to Duke University. For more information, consult the copyright section of the Regulations and Procedures of the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library.

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Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Jefferson Deems Johnson Papers, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.