Oral history interview of Allen L. Lucy by Cassandra Newby-Alexander, Professor of History, Norfolk State University, at Gloucester House, Gloucester Virginia, June 11, 2009; transcript available. In the interview, Lucy talks about his parents and siblings, growing up in the Barton Heights neighborhood of Richmond in the 1920s and 1930s, meeting his wife, and starting a family. He discusses his education in Richmond public schools, looking for work in Richmond during the Depression, and finding work at the City of Richmond Law and Equity Courts in 1935. He reflects on the atmosphere among the staff working at the Supreme Court of Virginia during the 1950s, when the court was deliberating a large number of civil rights cases, and discusses his thoughts about segregation and integration and his interactions with attorneys on both sides of the issue. He recalls one evening when he worked until the early hours of the morning in order to record a large number of petitions filed by civil rights attorney Oliver Hill. Toward the end of the interview, Lucy talks about the nature of his work as deputy clerk and clerk, his relationships with justices, and the pressures, for both the justices and the staff, of managing the caseload of the court and meeting deadlines. He emphasizes the sense of pride and gratitude he felt for having had the opportunity to work for the court and with the justices.
