Atkins, Jasper Alston, 1898-1982.

Jasper Alston Atkins was born August 8, 1898, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He graduated from Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1919 and from Yale Law School in 1922. He practiced law in Oklahoma and Texas from 1922-1936 before returning to North Carolina to serve as executive secretary for Winston-Salem Teachers College from 1936-1960. Throughout his career, Atkins worked for the advancement of civil rights. Jasper Alston Atkins died June 28, 1982.

From the description of Jasper Alston Atkins papers, 1922-1997 (inclusive). (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 702171254

Jasper Alston Atkins was born August 8, 1898, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He graduated from Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1919 and from Yale Law School in 1922. He practiced law in Oklahoma and Texas from 1922-1936 before returning to North Carolina to serve as executive secretary for Winston-Salem Teachers College from 1936-1960. Throughout his career, Atkins worked for the advancement of civil rights. Jasper Alston Atkins died June 28, 1982.

Jasper Alston Atkins was born August 8, 1898, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He attended Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee, and graduated magna cum laude in 1919. He then entered Yale Law School and received an LL.B. degree in 1922. While at Yale, he served as editor of the Yale Law Journal and, upon graduation, was elected to the national honor society, the Order of the Coif.

Atkins started practicing law in 1922 in Muskogee, Oklahoma, with the firm Wesley & Atkins. From 1927 to 1936, he lived in Houston, Texas, and was a partner in the firms Wesley & Atkins and Nabrit, Atkins & Wesley. While in Houston, he also worked as the editor of the Houston Informer and Texas Freeman . Atkins returned to Winston-Salem in 1936 to work for Winston-Salem Teachers College, a school founded by his father. He held the position of executive secretary at the college from 1936 to 1960. He returned to newspaper editing upon retirement from the college, serving as an executive editor for the Freedmen's Publishing Company.

Throughout his career, Jasper Alston Atkins fought for civil rights. In 1935, he appeared before the Supreme Court in the case of Grovey v. Townsend, arguing against a Texas state law that prohibited African-Americans from voting in primary elections. He returned to the Supreme Court in 1959 to argue against the segregation of public golf courses in Wolfe v. State of North Carolina. A suit he filed in 1968, Atkins, Pro Se v. State Board of Education of North Carolina, continuing as Allen v. State Board of Education of North Carolina in 1970, is credited with instigating the discontinuation of the separate but equal policy concerning educational facilities in Winston-Salem and the state of North Carolina.

Jasper Alston Atkins died on June 28, 1982, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

From the guide to the Jasper Alston Atkins papers, 1922-1997, (Manuscripts and Archives)