ELWYN B. ROBINSON DEPARTMENT OF SPECIAL COLLECTIONS
CHESTER FRITZ LIBRARY
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH DAKOTA
GRAND FORKS, NORTH DAKOTA 58202
COLLECTION: OGL #1087
DATES: 1942-1983
SIZE: 9.5 linear feet
ACQUISITION: The Judge Ronald N. Davies Papers were deposited in the Orin G. Libby Manuscript Collection by Judge Davies, Fargo, North Dakota on January 27, 1987 (Acc.# 87- 1500).
ACCESS: Available for inspection under the rules and regulations of the Department of Special Collections.
Ronald Norwood Davies was born on December 11, 1904 in Crookston, Minnesota, the son of Norwood S. and Minnie M. (Quigley) Davies. He completed his elementary education at Crookston, as well as Fargo, North Dakota. In 1922 he graduated from Central High School in Grand Forks. Davies continued his education at the University of North Dakota where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the College of Liberal Arts in 1927. Three years later, he received a law degree from Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.
Davies launched his long legal-judicial career in 1932 with his election as judge of the municipal court for Grand Forks, a position he held for eight years. The following year he was appointed to the North Dakota State Board of Pardons. In 1940, Davies went into partnership with lawyer Charles F. Peterson of Grand Forks.
The bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941 interrupted Davies' career. He was called into military service in the United States Army on January 15, 1942 and entered as a First Lieutenant. He was discharged from active duty on October 7, 1946 with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.
Following the war, Davies returned to private practice until June of 1955 when President Dwight D. Eisenhower appointed him United States District Court Judge for North Dakota. Two years later on August 26, 1957, Davies was temporarily assigned to the Eastern District of Arkansas where he handed down the now-famous decision, Aaron v Cooper, which ordered the racial integration of Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. The following year, Georgetown University honored Judge Davies for his "courageous decision" at Little Rock.
In 1966, Davies rendered another decision in what he termed "one of my most important cases," that of Stromsodt v. Parke-Davis and Company. The case, which was tried in Grand Forks, involved a damage suit against Parke-Davis, one of the nation's largest drug manufacturers, for an unsafe vaccine administered to Shane Stromsodt in 1959 at the age of five months. The child, who suffered irreparable brain damage, was represented by prominent torts attorney, Melvin Belli. On September 29, 1966, Davies awarded $500,000 to the seven year old Stromsodt.
On August 27, 1971, Davies achieved the status of Senior Judge. Some of the most significant opinions rendered by Davies during his tenure as Judge, include the following:
(1) Aaron v. Cooper, (Little Rock racial integration case), 156 F. Supp,. 220, Sept. 21, 1957, affirmed sub non Faubus v. United States 254 F. 2d 797, April 28, 1958, cert. denied. 79 S. Ct. 49 358 U.S. 829, 3 L. Ed. 2d. 68, Oct. 13, 1958.
(2) New York Life Insurance Company v. Dick, 252 F.2d 43, Feb. 7, 1958 reversed 79 S.Ct. 921, 359 U.S. 437, 3 L.Ed.2d 935, May 18, 1959.
(3) Stromsodt v. Parke-Davis and Company, 257 F.Supp. 991, Sept. 29, 1966, affirmed 411 F.2d 1390, June 9, 1969.
(4) Merchants National Bank and Trust Co. of Fargo v. United States, 272 F. Supp. 409, Sept. 11, 1967.
In civic affairs and professional organizations, Davies was quite prominent. In 1933-1934 he served as President of the Grand Forks Cavaliers, (forerunner of the Junior Chamber of Commerce). Also during the 1930s he served as president to the North Dakota Young Men's Business Association. In 1947 he became Executive Director of the North Dakota State Bar Association and in 1953 he was elected President of the Grand Forks Chamber of Commerce. During the early 1950s Davies was a member of the faculty of the School of Law at the University of North Dakota.
Beginning in the 1930s, Davies has held membership in the following organizations: the Grand Forks Knights of Columbus, the American Legion, the Elks, the American Red Cross, Sigma Nu (social fraternity), the Order of the Coif (honorary society for attorneys), the Grand Forks County Bar Association, the North Dakota State Bar Association and the American Bar Association.
On October 10, 1933, Davies married Mildred M. Doran. They had five children: Timothy, Thomas, Mary Jo, Catharine, and Jean. In 1961 the Davies Family attended graduation ceremonies at the University of North Dakota for three particularly rewarding reasons: Timothy received a Juris Doctor degree from the School of Law; Thomas earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and Judge Davies delivered the commencement address and was awarded an honorary Doctor of Law degree from the School of Law.
Judge Davies was awarded the Sioux Award by the UND Alumni Association in 1979 and was elected into the UND Athletic Hall of Fame in 1980. He received the Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Award from the North Dakota Peace Coalition in 1986, while in 1987, he received the Theodore Roosevelt Rough Rider Award, the state of North Dakota’s highest honor.
Mildred Davies died on April 17, 1994. Judge Ronald Davies died on April 18, 1996 in Fargo. On August 6, 2001 the Grand Forks Federal Building was renamed and dedicated in Judge Davies’ honor.
The Davies Papers has as its predominant focus the records of the Little Rock racial integration case of 1957. This case, legally known as Aaron vs. Cooper constitutes the first of three series in the collection. It includes transcripts, briefs, depositions and other legal documents concerning the case as well as individual testimonies and investigative reports produced under the direction of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. This series also contains correspondence that reflects, in large measure, the temper of the nation in the fall of 1957. Much of the correspondence, primarily letters and telegrams received, is critical of Judge Davies' decision in favor of immediate integration of Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. Yet, the files also hold a number of congratulatory notes and letters of support.
The second series contains the legal records of some of the cases heard before Judge Davies in the United States District Court for North Dakota, Eastern Division, dating from 1956 to 1978. Each case file generally contains transcripts, memorandums, orders, briefs, depositions, correspondence, notes and other related papers. This series includes the documents of the 1966 civil suit -- Stromsodt vs. Parke-Davis and Company; a case in which Judge Davies rendered a landmark decision in terms of damages awarded.
The third and last series consists of Judge Davies' personal "Day Books," dating intermittently from 1942 to 1983. The daily entries are usually brief and recount the day's activities, weather conditions, important events in Davies' family life, and world affairs. The collection also contains a number of news clippings relating to the events in Little Rock in 1957-1958 and have been placed in an oversize file (Box 7). Approximately twelve photographs of Judge Davies and others, dating from 1957 to 1985 have been placed in the Orin G. Libby Photograph Collection.
Box 1
Folder
SERIES I: LITTLE ROCK INTEGRATION CASE
Box 2
Folder
SERIES II: UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR NORTH DAKOTA
Box 3
Folder
Box 4
Folder
Box 5
Folder
SERIES III: DAY BOOKS
Box 6
Folder
Box 7
Folder
1087-1 Judge Davies and Family Returning from Little Rock, Arkansas, October
1957.
1087-2 Judge Davies, ca. 1955.
1087-3 Judge Davies, ca. 1971.
1087-4 Judge Davies in Chambers, ca. 1971.
1087-5 Judge Davies in Court Room, ca. 1971.
1087-6 Judge Davies in Chambers, ca. 1971.
1087-7 Judge Davies with Chief Judge Edward J. Devitt and George Mackinnon,
1981.
1087-8 Judge Davies, 1985.
1087-9 Judge Davies as a student at the University of North Dakota, ca. 1925.
1087-10 Lisa Noah, 1981 (niece of Joseph T. Noah who accompanied Judge Davies
to Little Rock, Arkansas as his Law Clerk).
1087-11 Pat Jones Family.
1087-12 John Deutch.
| Original Donation | First Addition: 1996 and 2001 |
| Second Addition: 2000 | Third Addition: 1956-1958 |
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