Roy Winfield Harper (July 26, 1905 – February 13, 1994) was a

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the United States federal judiciary, U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each United States federal judicial district, federal judicial district, which each cover o ...

of the

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri (in case citations, E.D. Mo.) is a trial level federal district court based in St. Louis, Missouri, with jurisdiction over fifty counties in the eastern half of Missouri. Th ...

and the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri.

Education and career

Born on July 26, 1905, in

Gibson Gibson may refer to: People * Gibson (surname) Businesses * Gibson Brands, Inc., an American manufacturer of guitars, other musical instruments, and audio equipment * Gibson Technology, and English automotive and motorsport company based * Gi ...

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

, Harper received an

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree in 1929 from the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Universit ...

and a

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

in 1929 from the

University of Missouri School of Law The University of Missouri School of Law (Mizzou Law or MU Law) is the law school of the University of Missouri. It is located on the university's main campus in Columbia, forty minutes from the Missouri State Capitol in Jefferson City. The sc ...

. He was an attorney with the Real Estate Appraisal Division of

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from 1929 to 1931. He was in private practice in Steele, Missouri from 1931 to 1934 and in Caruthersville, Missouri, from 1934 to 1947. Harper was a

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

in the

United States Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical r ...

from 1942 to 1945.

Federal judicial service

Harper received a recess appointment from President

Harry S. Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. A leader of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 34th vice president from January to April 1945 under Franklin ...

on August 7, 1947, to a joint seat on the

and the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri vacated by Judge

John Caskie Collet John Caskie Collet (May 25, 1898 – December 5, 1955) was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit and previously was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Ea ...

. President Truman nominated Harper to a judgeship on November 24, 1947, but the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

did not confirm his nomination, so his service terminated on December 19, 1947. However, President Truman gave him a second recess appointment on December 20, 1947.No additional nomination made following recess appointment of December 20, 1947; nomination of November 24, 1947, held over to following session of Congress pursuant to suspension of Rule XXXVIII, paragraph 6, of the Standing Rules of the Senate. The Senate still did not confirm his nomination, so his service terminated on June 22, 1948. The same day, President Truman gave him yet a third recess appointment, and Truman nominated him again January 13, 1949. The Senate finally confirmed Harper on January 31, 1949, and he received his commission on February 2, 1949. He served as Chief Judge of the Eastern District from 1959 to 1971, and he was a member of the

Judicial Conference of the United States The Judicial Conference of the United States, formerly known as the Conference of Senior Circuit Judges, was created by the United States Congress in 1922 with the principal objective of framing policy guidelines for administration of judicial cour ...

from 1965 to 1971. On January 5, 1971, Judge Harper assumed

senior status Senior status is a form of semi-retirement for United States federal judges. To qualify, a judge in the Federal judiciary of the United States, federal court system must be at least 65 years old, and the sum of the judge's age and years of servi ...

. He was a member of the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation from 1977 to 1983. Harper died February 13, 1994, in

Chesterfield Chesterfield may refer to: Places Canada * Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan * Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom * Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England ** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...

, Missouri.

Note

Bibliography

* Missouri Historical Society St. Louis, Missouri, Roy W. Harper family papers, 1950–1990. 7 boxes; collection contains case files, printed opinions, correspondence, and miscellaneous papers. The collection remained unprocessed as of August 1997. * University of Missouri and the State Historical Society of Missouri Western Historical Manuscript Collection Columbia, Missouri * Paul Caruthers Jones papers, 1943–1969; 60 ft.; finding aid; 13 folders pertaining to Harper. * Forrest Smith papers, 1940–1953; 6,658 folders, 11 vols., and 8 card files; finding aid; represented. * George A. Spencer papers, 1948–1960; 653 folders, 9 boxes, and 1 vol.; finding aid; restricted; represented.

References

External links

* * https://web.archive.org/web/20090210153545/http://harpersinmissouri.com/Page9.html * * * * *
LOG OF PRESIDENT TRUMAN’S ELEVENTH VISIT TO KEY WEST, FLORIDA MARCH 7- 27, 1952
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Harper, Roy Winfield 1905 births 1994 deaths Lawyers from St. Louis University of Missouri alumni Missouri lawyers Judges of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri Judges of the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri United States district court judges appointed by Harry S. Truman 20th-century American judges Unsuccessful recess appointments to United States federal courts People from Caruthersville, Missouri People from Dunklin County, Missouri Military personnel from Missouri United States Army Air Forces officers