Calvert, Robert W. (Robert Wilburn), 1905-1994

Robert Wilburn Calvert (1905-1994), born in Lawrence County, Tennessee, was Chief Justice of the Texas Supreme Court from 1961 to 1972. At age eight, he arrived in Texas shortly after the death of his father when his mother placed a young Calvert and his siblings in the State Orphans’ Home in Corscicana. He resided there for the next decade, where he suffered from hunger, abuse, and nearly died from the 1918 influenza outbreak, unfortunately claiming his sister.

Following his graduation as salutatorian from the orphanage’s high school, Calvert relocated to Austin where he attended the University to study law. Graduating in 1931, he was employed as a district attorney in Hillsboro. From 1933 to 1939 he was a member of the Texas House of Representatives, and Speaker of the House from 1937-1939. He worked as associate justice of the Texas Supreme Court from 1950 to 1961 until elected chief justice.

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