Woods, Henry, 1918-2002

Henry Woods was born March 17, 1918 in Abbeville, Mississippi. He attended the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, receiving a bachelor's degree in 1938 and a law degree in 1940. Later, he formed a partnership in Texarkana, Alston & Woods. On March 3, 1941, Woods became a special agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. In 1946, he returned to Texarkana and reestablished the law firm of Alston & Woods. In 1948, Woods managed Sid McMath's successful campaign for Arkansas governor and served as McMath's executive secretary from 1949 to 1953. Woods and McMath joined Leland F. Leatherman in forming a Little Rock law firm in 1953. In 1970, Woods coordinated Dale Bumpers' successful campaign for the Arkansas governorship. He was nominated U.S. District Judge, Eastern District of Arkansas, by President Jimmy Carter and sworn in March 14, 1980. He is the author of numerous legal articles, among them a treatise on "Comparative Fault" published in 1978. Woods married Kathleen Mary Mc Caffrey. They have four children: Mary Sue, Thomas Henry, Eileen Anne, and James Michael.