David J. Mays

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David John Mays (November 22, 1896 in Richmond, Virginia - February 17, 1971 in Richmond, Virginia)[1][2] was an American lawyer and writer, who won the 1953 Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography for Edmund Pendleton 1721-1803 (Harvard University Press, 1952), a biography of the late 18th-century Governor of Virginia Edmund Pendleton.[3] Mays also edited two volumes of Pendleton's letters and papers.

Mays received his Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Richmond in 1924, where he was a lecturer in law in 1926-1942.

The Virginia Bar Association elected Mays its president for the 1958-1959 term.[4]

A white supremacist, Mays became known for participating in the strategy called Massive resistance to the United States Supreme Court ruling in Brown v. Board of Education which forbade racial segregation in public schools. As a member of the Gray Commission, Mays helped draft the Stanley Plan, which the Virginia legislature passed in September 1956 and Governor Thomas B. Stanley signed into law; a federal court struck down part of the plan in January 1960, and federal and state courts struck down all major elements by 1960. Mays helped write the legal briefs in Harrison v. NAACP, NAACP v. Button and Hughes v. WMCA. In 1959 Mays addressed a subcommittee of the US Senate on A Question of Intent: The States, Their Schools and the 14th Amendment.[citation needed] He was also chairman of the Virginia Commission on Constitutional Government, a state agency that published numerous pamphlets in opposition to federal anti-discrimination legislation and federal court action to protect civil rights.

20-year-old Mays was a chief architect of the May 22, 1917 Lynching of Ell Persons, the murder by burning alive of a 51-year-old black woodcutter named Ell Parsons by a mob of 5,000 who captured him from a train in Memphis en route to court. Parsons was accused of raping and murdering 16-year-old white girl Antoinette Rappel on flimsy evidence, mainly that she was decapitated with an axe and that he allegedly confessed, and never got a trial. Mays was a key participant in organizing and executing the horrendous and felonious acts, "howling with excitement" after learning of his abduction, and standing near his head as he was burned with gasoline while chained to the ground, which was very popular with the white populace and never resulted in an indictment.

The Virginia Historical Society and Library of Virginia also honored Mays.

Mays practiced law in Richmond until his death in 1971,[2] and is buried in Hollywood Cemetery there. His papers are held by the Virginia Historical Society.[5]

Bibliography

  • Sketch of Judge Spencer Roane 1929
  • Business Law, Byrd Press, Richmond Virginia, 19 September 1933
  • Edmund Pendleton, 1721-1803: A Biography , Harvard University Press, 1952.[6] Winner of the 1953 Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography.
  • Edmund Pendleton, Letters and Papers
  • In Pursuit of Excellence: History of the University of Richmond Law School, Richmond, 1970
  • Report Of The Committee On Federal-State Relationships As Affected By Judicial Decisions Conference Of Chief Justices, foreword by David J. Mays
  • Race Reason and Massive Resistance: The Diary of David J. Mays, 1954-1959. Edited by James R. Sweeney

See also

References

  1. books.google.com
  2. 2.0 2.1 "A Guide to the David John Mays Papers, 1905–1985". Virginia Historical Society. 2002. Retrieved 2013-10-26.
  3. "1953 Pulitzer Prizes Won By Hemingway and 'Picnic'". Milton Bracker. The New York Times. May 5, 1953. Retrieved 2013-10-26.
  4. ABA Journal, December 1958, page 1211.
  5. ead.lib.virginia.edu
  6. www.amazon.com

External links