Kiwanis
Scope and Contents
The Judge Thomas M. Reavley Papers detail his extensive civic and legal service to society. Reavley’s correspondence, scholarship and speeches document not only his career and community engagement, but also provide glimpses of his education, family, World War II experience. The collection contains a wide range of formats and mediums—awards and plaques, books, calendars, commemorative medals, compact discs, ink and pencil correspondence, framed materials, mimeograph paper, newsprint, and photographic prints. Researchers interested in the Bicentennial, citizenship, Civil Rights, criminal justice, East Texas, equal opportunity housing, ethics, loan-sharking (usury), oration and speaking style, order and community, philosophy, religion, the role of the judiciary, the rule of law, sociology, Texas politics, theology, or youth education may find this collection useful.
The most prevalent item in Judge Reavley’s papers is his speeches and speech notes. This collection has many sermons and speeches about religion and faith as they apply to human nature, politics, the law, and society. Judge Reavley often explored the abstract and practical nature of legal topics such as the rule of law, morality and ethics, and the role of the judiciary in his speeches. He spoke on Texas improvement, showing a deep concern for the pace of the state’s "progress" in racial affairs, economy and industry, and politics. Judge Reavley also gave numerous commencement and career day addresses, talked about parenting, and encouraged scouting.
There are several folders in Judge Reavley’s papers that researchers might find of particular interest:
1. Senator John F. Kennedy’s Catholicism was a major campaign issue in the 1960 Presidential Race. Reavley was a volunteer in Austin and wrote a memo suggesting that Kennedy quell fears about his religion with a 15 minute question and answer to the Houston Ministerial Association. Kennedy’s campaign handlers latched on to Reavley’s idea and used it when the Senator came to Texas a few weeks before the national election. The folder contains the correspondence between Reavley and various people on Kennedy’s campaign staff. (Box 6, Folder 44)
2. Judge Reavley was a delegate at the 1968 “Uniting” Conference that merged the Methodist and United Brethren Churches. He wrote the “Rule of Law and the Right of Dissent,” popularly called the “Reavley Amendment,” which denied civil disobedience as a Christian right in the Methodist Church. This collection features correspondence, notes and press coverage documenting Judge Reavley’s contributions at the conference. (Press, Box 6, Folder 29; Correspondence, Box 7, Folders 22-23; Notes, Box 10, Folder 28).
Dates
- Creation: 1706-2011
- Event: Donated 7/17/2012
Conditions Governing Access
Open for research.
Extent
From the Collection: 26.00 Cubic Feet
Language of Materials
English
Repository Details
Part of the East Texas Research Center Repository