MG-308. THOMAS W. POMEROY JR. PAPERS, 1969-1979.
Thomas Wilson Pomeroy Jr. (b. 1908) was a Pennsylvania Supreme Court justice from 1968-1979. Originally a lawyer from the Pittsburgh area, he was admitted to the Pennsylvania Bar in 1933, practiced law in Pittsburgh, and subsequently was a partner in the firm of Kirkpatrick, Pomeroy, Lockhart and Johnson, 1948-1968. These papers are chiefly legal opinion files relating to cases heard by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. Although many of the cases are simply appeals from lower courts regarding contractual obligations, criminality, personal injury, equity, guardianship, estates, and damage awards, some cases deal with such topics as discrimination, collective bargaining, eminent domain, affirmative action, environmental controls, and desegregation. Two concurring opinions relate to cases involving African Americans.
• An equity case appealed from the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas to the Eastern District of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, New Mount Calvary Baptist Church v. Willie Drayton (January Term, 1971), involved a review of a chancellor’s decree directing that Willie Drayton, pastor of the church and trustee of its property, to convey title to the church property and to deliver the keys to six new officers named as successor trustees by the church.
• In a 1975 appeal from the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas to the Western District of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, Jones v. New Pittsburgh Courier Publishing Company, Richard F. Jones, receiver of the Pittsburgh Liquidating Corporation, took legal action against the New Pittsburgh Courier Publishing Company, an African American newspaper publisher. Other legal opinions on cases involving the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission are also found in the files.