Search

Oral history interview of Frederick A. Hodnett, Jr., by Cassandra Newby-Alexander, Professor of History, Norfolk State University, in the fifth floor conference room at the Supreme Court of Virginia in Richmond, June 3, 2014. Hodnett talks about his family and childhood in Dublin, Virginia, his education at Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham, Virginia and the University of Richmond, attending law school at the University of Virginia, his military service as a translator during the Vietnam war, and his long career as deputy court administrator. He discusses being hired by Hubert Bennett, executive secretary (court administrator) from 1952 to 1975; working for Robert Baldwin, executive secretary from 1976 to 2005; the changes in the court system with passage of the Court Reoorganization Act that took effect July 1, 1973; his work with judges statewide during his career, and working under Chief Justices Harry L. Carrico and Leroy Hassell, Sr.

Oral history interview of John Thomas Bruce by Cassandra Newby-Alexander, Professor of History, Norfolk State University, at the Supreme Court of Virginia in Richmond, October 11, 2013. Bruce talks about growing up among his mother's extended family in Norfolk, Virginia, his education, and his career as an attorney in the Office of the Chief Staff Attorney, first as a law clerk after graduating from law school, and as Chief Staff Attorney from 1978 to 2003. He discusses working with his predecessor Robert Irons, Special Assistant to the Supreme Court of Virginia until his sudden death in 1978; Chief Justice Harry Carrico, Justice A. Christian Compton, and Justice Richard H. Poff, all of whom were based in Richmond, and changes he has witnessed since he began working at the court in the 1970s.

Oral history interview of John T. Tucker, III, Norfolk State University Dean, at the Supreme Court of Virginia in Richmond, June 25, 2018. He talks about his family, growing up in Richmond and Henrico County, attending Catholic schools in Richmond and Henrico High School and the University of Virginia and University of Richmond. He discusses his experiences clerking for Judge Lawrence Koontz and the early history of the Court of Appeals, his philosophy of management, working with the judges of the Court of Appeals, and preparing for a second career as a deacon in the Catholic Church.

In this interview, Mrs. Walden discusses her family and her childhood in rural Nansemond County, with a particular focus on her education in a two-room primary school and the Nansemond County Training School, where she graduated in 1938. She also describes the education of her children, who faced educational experiences similar to her own. Mrs. Walden was part of the Parent-Teacher Association, who, with the support of the NAACP, filed a lawsuit for the equalization of schools.