Papers (1914-1972, undated) consisting of correspondence, reports, clippings, minutes, publications, speeches, affidavits, court rulings, legal briefs, trial proceedings, etc.
Francis Edward Winslow (July 7, 1888-1976), lawyer, was born in Hertford, N.C., the son of Tudor Frith and Mary E. Wood Winslow. Winslow attended the University of North Carolina undergraduate and law school as well as the Columbia University law school. In 1917, he married Nemmie G. Paris and they had four children: Adelaide, Mary W., Margaret, and Francis Edward. Winslow was a member of the 4th U.S. Judicial Circuit Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary, American Bar Association (1956-1959); the executive committee of the Committee for the Defense of the Constitution by Preserving the Treaty Power (1953); and was president of the North Carolina Society of the Cincinnati (1957). For detailed information see Who's Who in America.
Correspondence (1917-1918) of the U.S. Fuel Administration pertains to Winslow's duties as a local fuel committee chairman for Edgecombe County. As a result of war needs, fuels, especially coal, became almost non-existent; hence, the files reflect efforts of several Edgecombe County firms to acquire sufficient supplies of coal. The correspondence also reflects Winslow's efforts to enforce retail coal prices and other fuel regulations. Miscellaneous material (1917-1918), relating to the Fuel Administration, consists of reports of coal consumption of several Rocky Mount firms and U.S.F.A.pamphlets pertaining to fuel conservation, price controls, fuel usage, and contracts. A circular (undated) delineates a plan for mobilizing unemployed North Carolinians into wood-chopping brigades. Correspondence in the North Carolina Bar Association Justice of the Peace Reform Bill file relates to Winslow's efforts and strategy, as president of the association, to reform the selection of justices of the peace. The correspondence reflects the efforts of Winslow and other prominent North Carolina lawyers to introduce bills to divest the Legislature of the court rule-making power and invest it in the state's Supreme Court. Other material includes memoranda and minutes of the N.C. Bar Association's Committee on Justices of the Peace and Committee on the Rule-making Power (1937-1940), copies of proposed bills (1939, undated), newspaper clippings, and speeches and articles (undated). Closely related to the Reform Bills file, the Medico-Legal Committee files consist of correspondence (1956-1957) pertaining to the devising of a legal-medical interprofessional code. Other material includes a convention report (1956), an article concerning the code in The North Carolina Medical Journal (1956), and undated pamphlets. In 1936, Winslow campaigned for a Democratic Party seat in the Legislature. His correspondence deals with campaign organization and strategy and the soliciting of electoral support. Winslow analyzes his defeat and delineates his campaign expenses. Of interest in the miscellaneous materials are Edgecombe County voter registration lists (undated), a Democratic Party executive committee list (undated), and a speech to the voters of Edgecombe County (undated). Correspondence (1937) documents Winslow's efforts to help defeat President Franklin D. Roosevelt's attempts to dictate policy to the U.S. Supreme Court. Letters discuss the President's quarrel with the Court; the possible result for the rights of Black people were if the Bill of Rights were strengthened; the New Deal "regime," and Roosevelt's attack on bankers, industrialists, and lawyers. A later file of correspondence (1963) also deals with the Supreme Court. These letters reflect Winslow's efforts to block the three "Disunion" Amendments, one of which called for the creation of a Super Supreme Court composed of the fifty state justices. The United World Federalists file consists of Winslow's correspondence (1946-1948) soliciting membership and attempting to acquire the support of the N.C. Bar Association. Committee work, forums on atomic energy, and the necessity of world government are major topics of discussion. Other material includes newspaper clippings (1945-1953), minutes and by-laws (1946-1947, undated), pamphlets, newsletters, and bulletins (1945-1947, undated). Miscellaneous material includes a declaration from the Dublin Conference (1945) and material relating to a high school World Peace speaking program. A substantial amount of material relates to the amendment introduced by Senator John Bricker designed to restrict the nation's treaty-making powers. Winslow was a member of the executive committee of the Committee for the Defense of the Constitution by Preserving the Treaty Power. His correspondence (1953-1957) pertains to anti-Bricker amendment strategy and constitutional issues. Other material (1953-1956, undated) consists of addresses and speeches, state bar reports, journals, circulars, pamphlets, reprints, and newspaper clippings. Also included are reports of the progress of the amendment as it moved through Congress. Legal files pertain to an anti-trust tobacco suit, the Federal Trade Commission vs. Wilson Tobacco Board of Trade. Correspondence (1954-1965) pertains to the defense of the warehouses of Eagles-Cozart, Centre Brick, Big Dixie, and Watson. The ancillary case, Carl Renfro vs. Wilson Tobacco Board of Trade, receives substantial treatment. The correspondence discusses various aspects of tobacco warehousing, especially the debate between the performance system as opposed to the floor-space system. Undated copies of affidavits, transcripts of various tobacco suits and appeal briefs (1955-1957, undated) of the Wilson Tobacco Board of Trade and of Cozart-Eagles vs. Harris Sales Corporation (1965-1966, undated) are present. Also included are forty-eight volumes of the trial proceedings of Eagles vs. Harris Sales Corporation (1965). Other trial-related records are the Wilson Tobacco Board of Trade minutes (1951), the Wilson Warehouse Association minutes (1952-1963), Wilson Tobacco-Market data (1952-1955, undated), and a profit statement of the Clark Warehouse (1951). Miscellaneous material includes a pamphlet, Constitution and By-laws of the Rocky Mount Tobacco Board of Trade, Inc. (undated). Correspondence of the U.S. District Court, Eastern N.C. District, reflects the activities of the Eastern District Rules Committee (of which Winslow was a member) to formulate rules of procedure for the federal court. Related material includes drafts of proposed rules (1961), minutes of sub-committees and committee meetings, and status reports (all 1960). Pamphlets (1935-1960), journals, and bulletins also exist. A closely allied file concerns the Federal Judge Omnibus bill. Correspondence (1961) pertains to the need for extra judges in N.C., and the qualifications for judgeships of Malcolm B. Seawell, John Spencer Bell, and John D. Larkins. Of interest is the effort of Winslow to have Seawell appointed instead of Larkins, the choice of Senator B. Everett Jordan. Correspondence (1959-1965, undated) of the Carolina Charter Tercentenary Commission deals with commemorative programs, attempts to acquire appropriations for a cultural building, and publication of the state's colonial records. Committee minutes, reports, assignments, budget-related material, publication projects material, news releases, and a newsletter "Tercentenary News" (1961-1963), are included in the file. The Carolina Charter Corporation, which Winslow chaired, was established to receive funds acquired for support of Carolina Charter Tercentenary Commission programs. Correspondence deals with efforts to acquire a building for the Department of Archives and History, the publication of the Colonial Records of N.C., and the publication of Carlisle Floyd's play, The Sojourner and Mollie Sinclair. Lesser files include the Fellows of the American Bar Association, the John J. Parker Memorial, Society of the Cincinnati, and Winslow's speeches. A travel account (1936) of Adelaide Winslow describes various European cities. A pamphlet (1914), Rocky Mount, Typical City of the New South, by Winslow, is of interest. Theodosia Burr material concerns a portrait of her (1967).
Gifts of Francis Edward Winslow
Processed by D. Lawson, June 1978
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