The collection consists of two kinds of materials: papers of Frank Murphy that Gressman accumulated as clerk to the Supreme Court Justice; and Gressman's own papers. The greater part of the collection are the papers of Frank Murphy, dating from 1935 to 1948, with the bulk of the files falling in the period of 1939 to 1941, when Murphy was US Attorney General and the first year of his tenure on the Supreme Court bench. Always conscious of history, Murphy made valuable notes on the cabinet meetings he attended and his meetings and conversations with various public figures. These individuals include Hugo Black, Louis Brandeis, William J. Donovan, Carter Glass, Charles E. Hughes, Cordell Hull, Joseph P. Kennedy, John L. Lewis, Sir Robert Menzies, Manuel Quezon, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Francis B. Sayre, Harlan F. Stone and Sumner Welles. Also of importance are the several files of letters exchanged between Frank Murphy and Justice Felix Frankfurter.
Gressman's own papers are much smaller, but these also relate to his association with Frank Murphy, including notes that he made preparatory to writing a proposed biography of Murphy. Gressman's diary on his time spent as Murphy clerk of the Supreme Court is dated July 1943 to April 1944.
Eugene Gressman was born April 18, 1917 in Lansing, Michigan. He graduated from the University of Michigan (A.B., 1938; J.D., 1940). After his admission to the Michigan Bar in 1940, Gressman worked as an attorney with the Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington, 1940-1943. From here, he became law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Frank Murphy, serving from 1943 to 1948. Following Murphy's death, Gressman worked with different Washington law firms.
As a result of his work with Frank Murphy, Gressman became a national authority on practice and procedure before the United States Supreme Court. He was both a writer and teacher on the law. He co-authored the leading lawyers guide to Supreme Court practice and procedure entitled Supreme Court Practice. He has also written articles and pamphlets on the topic, as well as on other federal constitutional and statutory issues. In addition, he has co-authored a constitutional law textbook, and authored part of a treatise on federal jurisdiction. As professor, he has taught courses in constitutional law, federal jurisdiction, professional responsibility and seminars in Supreme Court practice. He has taught some or all of these courses at the North Carolina, Seton Hall, Fordham, Michigan, Ohio State, Indiana at Indianapolis, Catholic and George Washington University law schools.
