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Franklin Dorrah Cleckley was born August 1, 1940 in Newberry, South Carolina, but soon moved with his family to McDowell County, West Virginia. Cleckley received his undergraduate degree at Anderson College in Anderson, Indiana before earning a law degree at Indiana University School of Law at Bloomington in 1965. While serving three years with the United States Navy during the Vietnam War as a Judge Advocate General (JAG), he earned the repuation of being the most sought after attorney in Vietnam, according to the United States Secretary of Defense. Returning stateside, Cleckey attended Harvard University where he received his L.L.M. in 1969. He then attended Exeter University in England for post-graduate studies.
In that same year, Cleckley joined the West Virginia University College of Law, becoming the first African-American to do so. Cleckley also served as a visiting professor at a number of schools including Syracuse University, the University of Maryland, the University of Mississippi, the William & Mary Law School, Louisiana State, and Mercer University. In 1990, Cleckley established the Franklin D. Cleckley Foundation, a non-profit organization designed to provide former convicts with educational and employment opportunities.
In 1992, the Franklin D. Cleckley Symposium was created at West Virginia University, bringing distinguished members of the civil rights and African-American communities to the school as lecturers. He also authored the
While serving as a Justice, Cleckley authored more than 100 majority opinions, in addition to numerous concurring and dissenting opinions. He also received a myriad of awards, including the Civil Libertarian of the Year Awards from the West Virginia Civil Liberties Union, the Thurgood Marshall Award from the West Virginia NAACP, the 2011 Liberty Bell Award from the West Virginia Supreme Court, the West Virgina Common Cause Award for Public Service, the Public Citizen of the Year Award from the West Virginia Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers, the Neil S. Bucklew Award for Social Justice, and the West Virginia Human Rights Commission Civil Rights Award. The Justice Franklin D. Cleckley Fellowship was named and created in his honor by the West Virginia University College of Law, in conjunction with the University of Chicago Law School. The fellowship provides a two-year position with the West Virginia Innocence Project.
On August 14, 2017, Franklin D. Cleckley died at the age of 77, in Morgantown, West Virginia.
-adapted from Hastings Funeral Home obituary and Wikipedia.org
[Description and date of item], [Box/folder number], Franklin Cleckley Papers, A&M 4506, West Virginia and Regional History Center, West Virginia University Libraries, Morgantown, West Virginia.
Papers of Franklin Cleckley, lawyer, judge, and professor of law in West Virginia. Appointed to the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals in 1994 by then Governor Caperton Gaston, Cleckley was the first African-American Justice in West Virginia. Known for his prolific writing, he authored more than 100 majority opinions along with a number of concurring and dissenting opinions. Much of the collection consists of scrapbooks of newspaper clippings relating to the career of Cleckley. To a lesser extent the collection also includes correspondence and papers regarding legal cases Cleckley took part in, personal correspondence in the form of greeting and sympathy cards, as well as biographical material such as family photographs, resumes, and other material.
Record series include
Series 1. Biographical Materials
Series 2. Writings
Series 3. Correspondence
Series 4. Scrapbooks
Series 5. Printed Materials
Series 6. Audiovisual Materials
Series 7. Oversized Materials
Permission to publish or reproduce is required from the copyright holder. For more information, please see the Permissions and Copyright page on the West Virginia and Regional History Center website.
Series contains papers detailing the personal life of Franklin D. Cleckley and his immediate family. Types of materials include resumes, media profiles, photographs, death certificates, obituaries, and ephemera, among others.
Series contains writings by Franklin D. Cleckley and others. Types of writings include legal reviews, a report on civil rights in West Virginia, and brief publications regarding various legal issues.
Series includes correspondence that is largely made up of greeting and sympathy cards addressed to Franklin D. Cleckley and arranged in alphabetical order. To a lesser extent the series contains personal/business correspondence addressed to Cleckley arranged by year.
Series contains collections of newspaper clippings, event programs, photographs of televison appearances, and other printed materials regarding the professional career and personal life of Franklin D. Cleckley.
Series includes event programs, newsletters, and a few reports on legal matters, among others.
Series includes one cassette tape from a home video recorder, one floppy disk, and a number of VHS tapes. The VHS tapes cover a variety of topics including home movies, taped court cases featuring Franklin D. Cleckley, an episode of
This series contains oversized newspaper articles relating to Franklin D. Cleckley as well as one poster for Cleckley's campaign for Attorney General of West Virginia.
Series includes papers regarding legal cases in North Central West Virginia, court transcripts, a seminar booklet, and various correspondence.