Murphy, Frank

Born April 13, 1890, in Sand Beach, MI
Died July 19, 1949, in Detroit, MI

Federal Judicial Service:
Associate Justice, Supreme Court of the United States
Nominated by Franklin D. Roosevelt on January 4, 1940, to a seat vacated by Pierce Butler. Confirmed by the Senate on January 16, 1940, and received commission on January 18, 1940. Service terminated on July 19, 1949, due to death.

Supreme Court Oath:
February 5, 1940

Allotment as Circuit Justice:

Seventh Circuit, February 12, 1940-October 13, 1941, March 1, 1943-July 19, 1949
Sixth Circuit, June 2, 1941-October 13, 1941
Eighth Circuit, October 14, 1941-February 28, 1943
Tenth Circuit, October 14, 1941-February 28, 1943

Education:
University of Michigan, A.B., 1912
University of Michigan Law School, LL.B., 1914

Professional Career:

Private practice, Detroit, Michigan, 1914-1917, 1922-1923
U.S. Army first lieutenant, 1917-1919
Chief assistant U.S. attorney, Eastern District of Michigan, 1919-1922
Candidate for U.S. House of Representatives from Michigan, 1920
Professor of law, University of Detroit, 1922-1927
Judge, Detroit [Michigan] Recorder's Court, 1923-1930
Mayor, Detroit, Michigan, 1930-1933
Governor general, Philippine Islands, 1933-1935
High commissioner, Philippine Islands, 1935-1936
Governor, Michigan, 1937-1938
Attorney General of the United States, 1939-1940

Bibliography

Aquino, Melchor P. “Frank Murphy.” Bulletin of the American Historical Collection, vol. 1, no. 4 (July 1973): 11-7.

Fine, Sidney. “Frank Murphy in World War I.” The Michigan Historical Collections and Bentley Library Bulletin, No. 17. Ann Arbor: Michigan Historical Collections, 1968.

________. Frank Murphy: The Detroit Years. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1975.

________. Frank Murphy: The New Deal Years. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1979.

________. Frank Murphy: The Washington Years. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1984.

Gressman, Eugene. “The Controversial Image of Mr. Justice Murphy.” Georgetown Law Review, vol. 47, no. 4 (Summer 1959): 631-54.

Howard, J. Woodward. “Frank Murphy: The Freshman Years.” Vanderbilt Law Review, vol. 18, no. 2 (Mar. 1965): 473-506.

________. “Frank Murphy and the Sit-Down Strikes of 1937.” Labor History, vol. 1, no. 2 (Spring 1960): 103-40.

Jolley, James A. “The Social Philosophy of Frank Murphy.” University of Detroit Law Journal, vol. 42, no. 5 (June 1965): 585-605.

Man, Albon P., Jr. “Mr. Justice Murphy and the Supreme Court.” Virginia Law Review, vol. 36 (1950): 889-945.

Marshall, Thurgood. “Mr. Justice Murphy and Civil Rights.” National Bar Journal, vol. 9, no. 1 (Mar. 1951): 1-25.

Maveal, Gary. “Justice Frank Murphy, Michigan’s Leading Citizen.” Michigan Bar Journal, vol. 79, no. 3 (Mar. 2000): 368-69.

Muller, Carl. “Frank Murphy: Ornament of the Bar.” Detroit Lawyer, vol. XVII (Sept. 1949): 181-3.

Norris, Harold. “Mr. Justice Frank Murphy; A Michigan Contribution to Law and Politics.” Michigan Bar Journal, vol. 64, no. 8A (Aug. 1985): 55-92.

Pickering, John H. “A Tribute to Justice Frank Murphy.” University of Detroit Mercy Law Review, vol. 73 (Summer 1996): 703-16.

Roche, John P. “The Utopian Pilgrimage of Mr. Justice Murphy.” Vanderbilt Law Review, vol. 10, no. 2 (Feb. 1957): 365-94.

Scanlan, Alfred L. “The Passing of Justice Murphy – The Conscience of a Court.” Notre Dame Lawyer, vol. 25, no. 1 (Fall 1949): 7-39.

St. Antoine, Theodore J. “Justice Frank Murphy and American Labor Law.” Michigan Law Review, vol. 100, no. 7 (June 2000): 1900-26.

Zipes, Greg. Justice and Faith: The Frank Murphy Story. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2021.

Manuscript Collections

Detroit Public Library
Burton Historical Collection
Detroit, Mich.
Frank Murphy papers, ca. 1931-1940.
1 wallet; letters and other papers concerning the Detroit mayoral campaign of 1931, copies of addresses (1939), and printed matter.

University of Michigan
Bentley Historical Library
Ann Arbor, Mich.
Frank Murphy papers, 1908-1949.
106 linear ft.; finding aid; correspondence, reports, speeches, notes, pictures, scrapbooks, and miscellaneous papers covering personal matters and the administration of the various public offices Murphy held.

Federal Judicial Center

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Murphy, Frank