Wisdom, John Minor

Born May 17, 1905, in New Orleans, LA
Died May 15, 1999, in New Orleans, LA

Federal Judicial Service:
Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
Nominated by Dwight D. Eisenhower on March 14, 1957, to a seat vacated by Wayne G. Borah. Confirmed by the Senate on June 26, 1957, and received commission on June 27, 1957. Assumed senior status on January 15, 1977. Service terminated on May 15, 1999, due to death.

Other Federal Judicial Service:
Judge, Special Railroad Court, 1975-1997; presiding judge, 1986-1997

Education:
Washington and Lee University, A.B., 1925
Tulane University Law School, LL.B., 1929

Professional Career:

U.S. Army lieutenant colonel, 1942-1946
Private practice, New Orleans, Louisiana, 1929-1957
Adjunct professor of law, Tulane University, 1938-1957
Member, U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation, 1968-1978; chair, 1975-1978

Bibliography

Bass, Jack. Unlikely Heroes: The Dramatic Story of the Southern Judges of the Fifth Circuit Who Translated the Supreme Court's Brown Decision into a Revolution for Equality. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1981.

Black, Allen D. "Judge Wisdom, the Great Teacher and Careful Writer." Yale Law Journal 109 (April 2000): 1267-72.

Frickey, Philip P. "Judge Wisdom and Voting Rights: The Judicial Artist as Scholar and Pragmatist." Tulane Law Review 60 (December 1985): 276-313.

Friedman, Joel William. Champion of Civil Rights: Judge John Minor Wisdom. Baton Rouge, La.: Louisiana State University Press, 2009.

Friedman, Joel William. "Judge Wisdom and the 1952 Republican National Convention: Ensuring Victory for Eisenhower and a Two-party System for Louisiana." Washington and Lee Law Review 53 (1996): 33-97.

Friedman, Joel William. "John Minor Wisdom's Battle Against the Political Bosses to Create a Two-Party System in Louisiana." Tulane Law Review 69 (June 1995): 1439-511.

Garrow, David J. "Visionaries of the Law: John Minor Wisdom and Frank M. Johnson, Jr." Yale Law Journal 109 (April 2000): 1219-36.

Greely, Henry T. "Quantitative Analysis of a Judicial Career: A Case Study of Judge John Minor Wisdom." Washington and Lee Law Review 53 (1996): 99-150.

Marshall, Burke. "In Remembrance of Judges Frank M. Johnson, Jr. and John Minor Wisdom." Yale Law Journal 109 (April 2000): 1207-18.

Sullivan, Barry. "The Honest Muse: Judge Wisdom and the Uses of History." Tulane Law Review 60 (1985) 314-55.

Wisdom, John Minor. "A Federal Judge in the Deep South: Random Observations." South Carolina Law Review 35 (Summer 1984): 503-15.

Wisdom, John Minor. "Random Remarks on the Role of Social Sciences in the Judicial Decision-Making Process in School Desegregation Cases." Law and Contemporary Problems 39 (1975): 135-49.

Wisdom, John Minor. "Wisdom's Idiosyncrasies." Yale Law Journal 109 (April 2000): 1273-8.

Manuscript Collections

University of New Orleans
New Orleans, La.
John Minor Wisdom collection, 1870-1987.
3 linear ft.; finding aid; primarily material relating to the New Orleans Carnival and the Young Men's Gymnastic Club.

Tulane University Law School
New Orleans, La.
John Minor Wisdom papers, 1957-1979.
511 boxes (204 linear ft.); collection contains Wisdom's opinions, case files, memoranda, and correspondence.

Oral History

Wisdom, John Minor. "Judge John Minor Wisdom Interview." Interview conducted by Alice O'Donnell. Federal Judicial History Office, Federal Judicial Center, Washington, D.C., 1986. Transcript, 21 pages.

You are here

Wisdom, John Minor