Baker v. Carr Papers, ca. 1959-ca. 2003 (bulk ca. 1960-ca.1965)
(Document/manuscript/pamphlet/archival material)

Organized into four series: I. Baker v. Carr Case; II. Maps, Statistics, and Diagrams; III. Correspondence; and IV. Legal, Miscellaneous;,The original order scheme of each series has been retained, with a primarily subject-chronological arrangement.

Materials housed in Special Collections Division of the Main Library, Nashville Public Library.

In library use only. Available by appointment.

Scope and content: A collection of documentary sources related to the Baker v. Carr "one man, one vote" case about Tennessee reapportionment, spanning ca. 1959 to ca. 2003 (bulk ca. 1960-ca. 1965). The papers relate to the lawsuit filed by urban voters against Tennessee's Secretary of State and Attorney General in the U.S. District Court of Middle Tennessee, (Civil Action No. 2724). Includes documentation of the record on appeal amended and supplemental complaint of plaintiffs, pleadings and the City of Nashville's involvement in the legislative reapportionment case. The materials include exhibits introduced in the case, maps, statistics, and diagrams alongside legislative bills, pleadings, etc. Includes documentary sources related to the lawsuit of Nashville's Mayor Ben West v. Carr, with the published jurisdictional statement in the U.S. Supreme Court, October Term (1963). Includes sources about the Tennessee General Assembly and reapportionment matters, as well as documentation about several of the attorneys for the plaintiffs. Includes copies of additional cases, briefs, pleadings from other jurisdictions, such as "Gomillion et al v. Lightfoot" (1960) and "Toombs v. Fortson" (1962).

Series I. Baker v. Carr Case, ca. 1959-ca. 2000 (bulk 1960-1964), 1 cu. ft. (2 boxes). This series consists of legal documentation related to the Baker v. Carr case in the U.S. District Court for the Middle Tennessee District, Nashville. Includes documentation of the record on appeal amended and supplemental complaint of plaintiffs, pleadings, etc. The series contains information about the motion of Mayor Ben West to intervene as a plaintiff as well as motions of other cities to intervene (Chattanooga and Knoxville). Includes several publications of the Supreme Court and sources related to the Federal court panel ruling in favor of the plaintiffs for reapportionment based on population.

Series II. Maps, Statistics, and Diagrams, ca. 1960-ca. 1963, .5 cu. ft. (1 box). This series consists of maps, statistics and diagrams related to the Baker v. Carr reapportionment case. Includes statistical data related to the case, such as the 1960 voting population of Tennessee counties, apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives in 1901, maps, and plans for apportionment of the Tennessee General Assembly. Includes the 1961 report prepared by City of Nashville, Ben West, Mayor, titled "Legislative Apportionment: The Denial of the Equality of Voting Rights in Tennessee."

Series III. Correspondence, ca. 1960-ca. 1966, .25 cu. ft. (1 box). This series of letters regarding the case of Baker v. Carr contains primarily incoming and outgoing correspondence (onion skin copies) of Harris A. Gilbert, the special counsel for the City of Nashville in the Baker v. Carr case. The correspondents include, but are not limited to Harris A. Gilbert, Walter Chandler, Z. T. Osborn, Jr., William E. Miller (United States DIstrict Court, Middle District of Tennessee), Archibald Cox, Hobart F. Atkins, and Mayor Ben West.

Series IV. Legal, Miscellaneous, ca. 1960-ca. 2003 (bulk 1960-1966), .5 cu. ft. (1 box). This series of miscellaneous legal papers, including cases, briefs, and pleadings from other jurisdictions in the United States, spanning ca. 1960-1966. Includes a subseries of publications, articles, and miscellany, with topical coverage on Baker v. Carr, the Fourteenth Amendment and the U.S. Supreme Court, the Equal Protection Clause and legislative apportionment. Present in the collection is a typescript of an oral history interview with Harris Gilbert (Feb. 27, 1970).

Cite as: Baker v. Carr Papers, Special Collections Division, Nashville Public Library

This material may be protected by copyright law (Title 17 U.S. Code)

Harris A. Gilbert;,Gift;,2004.,Acc. 2004.003.

Associated materials: The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Archives holds the Gene S. Graham Papers, 1959-1971.

Associated materials: The Tennessee State Library and Archives holds the Joseph Cordell Carr, Sr. Papers, 1900-1980, THS ac. no. 730, microfilm no. 1657.

In 1959, the Baker v. Carr case, ultimately decided by the United States Supreme Court, was initiated in Tennessee by urban voters who brought an action before the federal district court in Nashville against Joseph Cordell Carr, the Tennessee Secretary of State, and George McCanless, the Attorney General. The plaintiffs objected to problems of apportionment and legislative districting of rural and urban districts. The case applied the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution prohibiting states from denying any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. After the District Court dismissed their case, the Supreme Court decided in favor of the plaintiffs (argued April 19-20, 1961; reargued October 9, 1961, and decided March 26, 1962) for a "one-man, one-vote" ruling in reapportionment of state legislative districts. The Supreme Court ruling forced the Tennessee legislature to reapportion itself on the basis of population. Within two years of the decision in Baker v. Carr, citizens in forty-one states had filed suit in apportionment cases.

Plaintiff Charles Baker was a Republican who lived in Shelby County, Tennessee, where the large urban city of Memphis is located. He made complaint that the Tennessee State Constitution required that legislative districts be redrawn every ten years according to the federal census to provide for districts of substantially equal population. In fact though, Tennessee had not redistricted since 1901. At the time of Baker's lawsuit, the population had shifted such that the district of Shelby County had about ten times as many residents as some of the rural districts. Baker argued that a discrepancy existed in favor of rural citizens receiving more voting representation than the urban citizens and that problems of apportionment caused him to fail to receive the "equal protection of the laws" required by the Fourteenth Amendment.

Joseph ("Joe") Cordell Carr, Sr. (1907-1981), a former Tennessee Secretary of State and long-time treasurer of the Tennessee Democratic Party was the defendant in the lawsuit. Though not the person who set the district lines, he was responsible for the conduct of elections in Tennessee as Secretary of State. Originally the State of Tennessee argued that legislative districts were essentially political, rather than judicial questions, citing the plurality opinion of the court in "Colegrove v. Green" (1946), wherein Justice Felix Frankfurter declared that, "Courts ought not to enter this political thicket."

Historically, Tennessee's long-fought remap battle for reapportion of the legislature had prior beginnings circa 1955, when proponents were represented by Nashville attorney Z. T. "Tommy" Osborn. He was instrumental in getting Nashville Mayor Ben West and the City of Nashville aboard as a plaintiff. In the Baker v. Carr case, Nashville attorney Harris A. Gilbert was the co-counsel representing the urban communities in the reapportionment case. Other prominent figures involved in the case were John Jay Hooker, Jr., who became Special Assistant to Robert F. Kennedy in 1961, Archibald Cox, U.S. Department of Justice, and attorneys Walter Chandler of Memphis and Hobart F. Atkins of Knoxville.

Baker v. Carr had a profound effect on the role of state governments and their relationships with the federal government and the federal courts. The lawsuit resulted in the U.S. Supreme Court ordering state legislatures to reapportion themselves and declaring that federal courts have jurisdiction in such cases by reason of the Fourteenth Amendment to the federal constitution.

In English

Finding aid available in repository;,folder level control.

Harris A. Gilbert, affiliated as an attorney in the Baker v. Carr case, held custodial stewardship of the materials prior to donation to the library.

Process,2007;,Leanne Garland.

No further accruals are expected.