Potts, Charles Shirley, 1872-

Born in Weatherford, Texas, Charles Shirley Potts (1872-1963) studied at Weatherford College and the Parker Institute before earning a bachelor’s and master’s degree from the University of Texas at Austin (UT) in 1902. Following a brief stint as an assistant professor of economics and history at Texas A&M University, Potts graduated from the UT Law School in 1909. A founding member of UT’s Texas Law Review, he joined the university’s political science department in 1911 and the law faculty in 1914. Two years later, he married Ada Hardeman Garrison, with whom he had two daughters.

In 1926, Potts received a doctorate in juridical science form Harvard University and the next year was appointed dean of the two-year-old Southern Methodist University Law School. During his tenure at SMU, the law school was accredited by the American Bar Association (1927), joined the Association of American Law Schools (1929), and instituted evening classes by merging with the YMCA’s Dallas School of Law (1938). Additionally, Potts researched and wrote numerous publications, primarily on criminal, procedural, and constitutional law in Texas, including Custody of State Funds (1902), A School History of Texas with Eugene C. Barker and Charles W. Ramsdell (1912), Criminal Law: What’s Wrong with It? (1929), and Studies in Criminal Procedure (1951). Following his retirement in 1947, Potts became an assistant district attorney for Dallas County and continued to represent the SMU Law School as Dean Emeritus.

Sources:

McKnight, Joseph W. Potts, Charles S. Handbook of Texas Online . Accessed February 21, 2011. http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fpo32 .

Santa Cruz, Paul H. Dedman School of Law Records: A Guide to the Collection. Southern Methodist University Archives, DeGolyer Library, Southern Methodist University. Accessed February 21, 2011. http://www.lib.utexas.edu/taro/smu/00118/smu-00118.html .

Born in Weatherford, Texas, Charles Shirley Potts (1872-1963) studied at Weatherford College and the Parker Institute before earning a bachelor's and master's degree from the University of Texas at Austin (UT) in 1902.

Following a brief stint as an assistant professor of economics and history at Texas A&M University, Potts graduated from the UT Law School in 1909. A founding member of UT's Texas Law Review, he joined the university's political science department in 1911 and the law faculty in 1914. Two years later, he married Ada Hardeman Garrison, with whom he had two daughters.

In 1926, Potts received a doctorate in juridical science form Harvard University and the next year was appointed dean of the two-year-old Southern Methodist University Law School. During his tenure at SMU, the law school was accredited by the American Bar Association (1927), joined the Association of American Law Schools (1929), and instituted evening classes by merging with the YMCA's Dallas School of Law (1938). Additionally, Potts researched and wrote numerous publications, primarily on criminal, procedural, and constitutional law in Texas, including Custody of State Funds (1902), A School History of Texas with Eugene C. Barker and Charles W. Ramsdell (1912), Criminal Law: What's Wrong with It? (1929), and Studies in Criminal Procedure (1951). Following his retirement in 1947, Potts became an assistant district attorney for Dallas County and continued to represent the SMU Law School as Dean Emeritus.