Freeman
Frances Willson Thompson Library
Genesee Historical Collections Center
Name of the collection: Ralph M. Freeman
Inclusive years: 1954-1990
Quantity: 4 linear feet
Acquisition: This collection (donor no. 231) was donated to the Genesee Historical Collections Center in April, 1993.
Access: There are no restrictions on access to this collection.
Photographs: Four photographs were removed from this collection and cataloged separately.
Processed by: Paul Gifford, May, 1993.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
1902, May 5. Born in Flushing, Michigan, son of Horace B. and Laura D. (McKenzie) Freeman.
1926. Received Ll.B. from University of Michigan Law School; admitted to Michigan State Bar.
1926-1927. Private law practice, Flint, Michigan.
1930-1932. Prosecuting attorney, Genesee County, Michigan.
1933-1954. Private law practice, Flint, Michigan; member of Freeman, Bellairs, and Dean, 1953-1954.
1933-1949. Member, Flint Board of Education.
1938, Aug. 13. Married Emmalyn E. Ellis.
1938-1939. President, Flint Board of Education.
1948-1949. President, Flint Board of Education.
1954-1990. U. S. District Judge, Eastern District of Michigan.
1990, March 29. Died.
SCOPE AND CONTENT
The papers in this collection were maintained at the office of Judge Freeman. Very little material concerns particular cases brought before him. Most was generated in an administrative sense---assignment of cases to new judges, dockets, communications from the office responsible for administration of Federal courts, public relations activities, and particulars concerning the administration of the District Court in Detroit. Researchers interested in particular cases should consult with the National Archives, Great Lakes Region, in Chicago, which, at the time of this writing, holds records of the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Michigan, from 1837 to 1962.
Perhaps the most useful part of the collection is the series labeled "judges." Each folder typically contains ceremonial booklets issued at retirement, death, or investiture, newspaper clippings, and correspondence. There is good documentation on certain political issues which the judges sometimes became embroiled in, including Robert DeMascio in the early 1970s and John Feikens in the mid-1980s.
Flint material in the collection is limited to newspaper clippings about the dedication of the new Federal building in 1962 and a copy of its blueprints and letters of congratulation on Freeman's appointment in 1954 as a Federal judge, most of which came from Flint lawyers.
It appears that the some of his out-going correspondence, which was arranged in alphabetical sequence, is missing.
FOLDER LIST
BOX 1
TOPICAL
Administrative office of the U.S. courts - Correspondence, 1954-1963
Assignment of civil cases, 1954-1957
Assignment of cases and transfers of cases to newly appointed judges, 1959-1968
Bankruptcy and referees
1966
Correspondence
Monthly reports of fees in bankruptcy cases
1967
First half
Second half
1968
First half
Second half
1969
First half
Second half
1970
1971
1972
1973-1978
1981
1982-1983
General
Judge selection
Bankruptcy Court and Clerk's Office consolidation plan, 1965-1967
Bavarian lawyers, 1967
BOX 2
Court of Appeals, 6th Circuit - General, 1965-1971
Court security matters, 1970-1981
Courtroom facilities, 1968-1986
Crime Prevention Center Committee
1960-1964
1965-1967
Federal Detention Center, 1976-1979
General Services Administration, 1970-1977
Grand jury, 1963-1980
Judicial Conference of the 6th Circuit, 1955-1965
Judicial Conference of the United States
1955-1956
1957-1969
Law clerk selection process, 1968-1990
Law Day, U.S.A., 1959-1968
Local U.S. District Court rules, 1954-1968
Magistrate, Proposed second, in Detroit, 1970-1971
Magistrates - General, 1983
Miscellaneous, 1954-1989
Naturalization proceedings, 1954-1976
BOX 3
Omnibus judgeship bill (additional judgeships)
1954-1961
1969-1970
CORRESPONDENCE
Letters of congratulation, 1954-1955
Correspondence (alphabetical), 1954-1990
B, 1961-1969
C, 1961-1981
D, 1958
F, 1959-1969
G, 1966-1976
J, 1956-1974
K, 1954-1986
L-M, 1955-1988
P-R, 1959-1970
S, 1954-1980
T, 1955-1988
U-V, 1956-1989
W, 1954-1983
Y-Z, 1960-1969
Correspondence (out-going)
1970
1971
1974
1976-1977
1978
1979
JUDGES
Bobier, Harold H., 1971-1982
DeMascio, Robert E., 1971-1972
Feikens, John, 1979-1985
Gubow, Lawrence, 1967-1981
Kaess, Fred W., 1962-1979
Keith, Damon J., 1967-1984
Kennedy, Cornelia, 1970-1988
Komives, Paul (magistrate), 1970-1985
LaPlata, George, 1985
BOX 4
Lederle, Arthur F., 1954-1960
Levin, Theodore, 1960-1979
Machrowicz, Thaddeus M., 1969-1972
McCree, Wade H., 1961-1987
O'Sullivan, Clifford, 1957-1969
Picard, Frank, 1955-1963
Roth, Stephen J., 1962-1974
Shea, Thomas F., 1955-1973
Smith, Otis, 1964-1967
Smith, Talbot, 1968-1979
Taylor, Anna Diggs, 1979-1984
Thornton, Thomas P., 1985-1987
Woods, George E., 1969-1983
Miscellaneous and miscellaneous cases
1958-1962
1963-1976
Miscellaneous ceremonies, 1962-1989
PERSONAL
Miscellaneous, 1955-1990
Gordon Hunt Club, Circumnavigators Club, 1969-1982
Michigan Benefactor, 1974
CLIPPINGS
Personal, 1961-1987
Miscellaneous, 1967-1990
Flint Court House, 1960-1962
MISCELLANEOUS
Bicentennial and U.S. Constitutional matters, 1987
Blueprints of Federal Building in Flint, proposed court facilities in Detroit