Carter, Robert Lee

Born March 11, 1917, in Careyville, FL
Died January 3, 2012, in New York, NY

Federal Judicial Service:
Judge, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
Nominated by Richard M. Nixon on June 15, 1972, to a seat vacated by Thomas F. Croake. Confirmed by the Senate on July 21, 1972, and received commission on July 25, 1972. Assumed senior status on December 31, 1986. Service terminated on January 3, 2012, due to death.

Education:
Lincoln University, Pennsylvania, A.B., 1937
Howard University School of Law, LL.B., 1940
Columbia Law School, LL.M., 1941

Professional Career:

U.S. Army lieutenant, Air Corps, 1941-1944
NAACP, 1944-1968; legal assistant, 1944-1945; assistant special counsel, 1945-1956; general counsel, 1956-1968
Director, veteran affairs, American Veterans Committee, 1948-1949
Special assistant U.S. attorney, Southern District of New York, 1962
Fellow, Columbia University Urban Center, 1968-1969
Private practice, New York City, 1969-1972

Manuscript Collections

Library of Congress
Washington, D.C.
Robert L. Carter papers, 1941-2006.
11.8 linear ft. (10,000 items); finding aid; correspondence, memoranda, legal cases, speeches, writings, subject files, newspaper clippings, ephemera, biographical material, oral history interviews, photographs, notes, and research material relating primarily to Carter's career after 1968.

Oral History

Carter, Robert Lee. Interview with Robert Lee Carter. Part of William A. Elwood Civil Rights Lawyers Project, 1984-1989, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Va.

Carter, Robert Lee. "Judge Robert Lee Carter." Interview conducted on June 10, 1986, by Jed Dannenbaum, Kathleen Dowdey, and Cheryl Chisholm. Ralph McGill Papers, Dawn's Early Light Collection, Robert W. Woodruff Library, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, 1986. Videotape, 90 minutes; transcript, 21 pages.

Carter, Robert Lee. "National Visionary Leadership Project oral history." Interview conducted on April 27, 2005, by Renee Poussaint. Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 2 video cassettes, 64 minutes; transcript, 37 pages.

Carter, Robert Lee. "Robert Lee Carter." Interview conducted on March 8, 1968, by John Britton. Ralph Bunche Oral History Collection, Moorland-Spingarn Research Center, Howard University, Washington, D.C., 1968. Transcript, 40 pages.

The HistoryMakers Video Oral History Interview with The Honorable Robert L. Carter, May 22, 2001. The HistoryMakers African American Video Oral History Collection, 1900 S. Michigan Avenue, Chicago, Illinois (subscription required).

Federal Judicial Center

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Carter, Robert Lee