Blackmun, Harry Andrew

Born November 12, 1908, in Nashville, IL
Died March 4, 1999, in Arlington, VA

Federal Judicial Service:
Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
Nominated by Dwight D. Eisenhower on August 18, 1959, to a seat vacated by John Benjamin Sanborn. Confirmed by the Senate on September 14, 1959, and received commission on September 21, 1959. Service terminated on June 9, 1970, due to appointment to another judicial position.

Associate Justice, Supreme Court of the United States
Nominated by Richard M. Nixon on April 15, 1970, to a seat vacated by Abe Fortas. Confirmed by the Senate on May 12, 1970, and received commission on May 14, 1970. Assumed senior status on August 3, 1994. Service terminated on March 4, 1999, due to death.

Supreme Court Oath:
June 9, 1970

Allotment as Circuit Justice:

Eighth Circuit, June 9, 1970-August 2, 1994
First Circuit, August 7, 1990-October 8, 1990

Education:
Harvard College, A.B., 1929
Harvard Law School, LL.B., 1932

Professional Career:

Law clerk, Hon. John B. Sanborn, U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, 1932-1933
Private practice, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1934-1950
Counsel, Mayo Organizations, Rochester, Minnesota, 1950-1959

Bibliography

Blackmun, Harry A. “Reflections of Harry Blackmun.” Bench & Bar of Minnesota, vol. 58, no. 7 (Aug, 2001): 34-5.

Blodgett, William. “Just You Wait, Harry Blackmun.” Constitutional Commentary, vol. 3, no. 1 (Winter 1986): 3-4.

Fuqua, David. “Justice Harry A. Blackmun: The Abortion Decisions.” Arkansas Law Review, vol. 34, no. 2 (1980): 276-98.

Greenhouse, Linda. Becoming Justice Blackmun: Harry Blackmun’s Supreme Court Journey. New York: H. Holt and Co., 2006.

________. “Marvin Anderson Lecture: Harry Blackmun, Independence and Path Dependence.” Hastings Law Journal, vol. 56, no. 6 (2004-2005): 1235-48.

Hutchinson, Dennis J. “Aspen and the Transformation of Harry Blackmun.” Supreme Court Review, vol. 2005 (2005): 307-32.

Primrose, Sarah. “An Unlikely Feminist Icon: Justice Harry A. Blackmun’s Continuing Influence on Reproductive Rights Jurisprudence.” Cardozo Journal of Law and Gender, vol. 19, no. 2 (2013): 393-436.

Rogow, Bruce S. “Justice Harry Blackmun.” Nova Law Review, vol. 14, no. 1 (Fall, 1989): 9-12.

Schlesinger, Steven R. and Janet Nesse. “Justice Harry Blackmun and Empirical Jurisprudence.” American University Law Review, vol. 29, no. 3 (Spring 1980): 405-38.

Weldon, Melissa M. Paul M. Shapiro. “Tinkering with the Machinery of Death: The Evolving Jurisprudence of Justice Harry Blackmun.” Bench & Bar of Minnesota, vol. 70, no. 2 (Feb. 2013): 16-9.

Yarbrough, Tinsley A. Harry A. Blackmun: The Outsider Justice. New York: Oxford University Press, 2008.

Symposium: “Justice Blackmun and Judicial Biography.” Brooklyn Law Review, vol. 72, no. 1 (Fall 2006): 1-236.

Symposium: “The Jurisprudence of Justice Harry A. Blackmun.” Dickinson Law Review, vol. 97 (Spring 1993): 421-626.

Symposium: “Reflecting on Judging: A Discussion following the Release of the Blackmun Papers.” Missouri Law Review, vol. 70, no. 4 (Fall 2005): 965-1308.

Tributes: “A Tribute to Justice Blackmun.” Annual Survey of American Law, vol. 1990 (1990): xxi-Iv.

Tributes: “The Jurisprudence of Justice Harry A. Blackmun.” Dickinson Law Review, vol. 97, no. 3 (Spring 1993): 421-626.

Tributes: Hamline Law Review, vol. 8, no. 1 (Jan. 1985): ix-104.

Manuscript Collections

Library of Congress
Washington, D.C.
Harry A. Blackmun papers, 1913-2001.
630 linear ft. (530,800 items); finding aid; collection contains personal, family, and official correspondence; diary entries; memoranda; news clippings; notes; oral history transcripts; photographs; reports; speeches; writings; and other files from Blackmun's service on the Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit and the Supreme Court of the United States.

U.S. Court of Appeals
Eighth Circuit Archives
St. Louis, Mo.
Justice Harry Blackmun collection and addendum.

Oral History

Blackmun, Harry A. "In Search of the Constitution: Mr. Justice Blackmun." Interview conducted in 1987 by Bill Moyers. Princeton, N.J.: Films for the Humanities & Sciences, 1994. Videotape, 60 minutes.

Blackmun, Harry A. "A Conversation with Harry A. Blackmun." Interview conducted on November 29, 1985, by Ted Gest. Circuit Library, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, St. Louis, Missouri, 1985. Videotape.

Blackmun, Harry A. "Justice Harry A. Blackmun Oral History." Interviews conducted between July 6, 1994, and December 13, 1995, by Harold Hongju Koh; produced and edited by the Federal Judicial Center. Library of Congress, Manuscript Division, 2004. Videotapes; transcript, 514 pages.

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Blackmun, Harry Andrew