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The Honorable D'Army Bailey
Maker interview details
Interviews
- July 29, 2010
- June 24, 2003
Profession
- Category:
LawMakers
- Occupation(s):
Circuit Court Judge
Birthplace
- Born: November 11, 1941
- Birth Location: Memphis, Tennessee
Favorites
- Favorite Color: Blue, Red
- Favorite Food: Soul Food
- Favorite Time of Year: Fall
Favorite Quote
"Well."
Biography
Activist, politician, attorney, writer, columnist, public servant and jurist D'Army Bailey was born on November 11, 1941 in Memphis, Tennessee. He attended Booker T. Washington High School in Memphis, but was expelled from Southern University in Baton Rouge in the early 1960s for participating in anti-segregation demonstrations. He went on to receive his B.A. from Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts, and graduated from Yale Law School in 1967.
After graduation, Bailey served as national director of the Law Students Civil Rights Research Council in New York from 1967 to 1968 and then as staff attorney to the San Francisco Neighborhood Legal Assistance Foundation from 1968 to 1970. From 1970 to 1971, he was program adviser to the Field Foundation in New York. Elected to the City Council in Berkeley, California, in 1971, he was ousted in a recall election after two years because of his controversial black nationalist politics. Bailey returned to his hometown of Memphis and practiced law from 1974 to 1990. In 1983, he began his fight to preserve the Lorraine Motel, the site of Dr. Martin Luther King's assassination. Finally, after years of fundraising, Bailey's vision was realized in 1991 when the Lorraine Motel building was restored and transformed into the National Civil Rights Museum.
Bailey became a jurist in 1990, when he was elected Circuit Court Judge in Tennessee's 30th Judicial District. Reelected in 1998, Judge Bailey continued to devote himself to fight for civil rights. Bailey was an author, guest speaker for universities and civic organizations, and had been seen in the films “The People vs. Larry Flynt,” “How Stella Got Her Groove Back” and “Mystery Train.”
Bailey passed away on July 12, 2015 at age 73.
Previews from the Digital Archive
Watch the full interview in the Digital Archive
- Slating of D'Army Bailey's interview
- D'Army Bailey lists his favorites
- D'Army Bailey describes his family background
- D'Army Bailey describes how working at People's Drugstore exposed him to African American history and current events
- D'Army Bailey describes his mother's educational background
- D'Army Bailey talks about his mother's siblings
- D'Army Bailey describes his mother's occupations
- D'Army Bailey talks about attending Rosebud Elementary School in Memphis, Tennessee
- D'Army Bailey describes his father's family background
- D'Army Bailey talks about not knowing much about his family history
- D'Army Bailey describes his father's job as a train porter for the Illinois Central Railroad
- D'Army Bailey describes growing up in Memphis, Tennessee
- D'Army Bailey describes being hit with a rock during a fight
- D'Army Bailey talks about South Memphis, Tennessee
- D'Army Bailey talks about his high school principal, Blair T. Hunt
- D'Army Bailey describes his performance and the teachers who influenced him at Booker T. Washington High School, in Memphis, Tennessee
- D'Army Bailey describes being chastised for passing a sex book around his classroom
- D'Army Bailey talks about the social standing of his elementary school teacher, Mrs. Rulack
- D'Army Bailey reflects upon being punished for passing a sex book around his classroom
- D'Army Bailey talks about his role models during his youth
- D'Army Bailey talks about his acceptance of segregation as a youth
- D'Army Bailey describes his involvement with the Shelby County Democratic Club as a high school student
- D'Army Bailey describes his experiences attending Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana
- D'Army Bailey talks about his high school history teacher, Nat Dee Williams
- D'Army Bailey describes how students at Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, were exposed to the Civil Rights Movement in 1960
- D'Army Bailey talks about attending the United States National Student Association Conference in 1960
- D'Army Bailey describes protesting the arrest of Southern University students in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, pt. 1
- D'Army Bailey describes protesting the arrest of Southern University students in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, pt. 2
- D'Army Bailey describes protesting the arrest of Southern University students in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, pt. 3
- D'Army Bailey describes his expulsion from Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana
- D'Army Bailey talks about his political science professor, Professor Adolph Reed, Sr.
- D'Army Bailey describes his parents' reaction to his expulsion from Southern University
- D'Army Bailey describes enrolling at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts
- D'Army Bailey describes inviting Malcom X to speak at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts
- D'Army Bailey describes transferring from Boston University School of Law to Yale Law School
- D'Army Bailey describes serving as National Director of the Students Civil Rights Research Council
- D'Army Bailey talks about Abbot "Abbie" Hoffman
- D'Army Bailey talks about being fired from the San Francisco Neighborhood Legal Assistance Foundation
- D'Army Bailey describes administering a trust and working for the Field Foundation
- D'Army Bailey describes serving as Chairman of the Board for Berkeley Legal Services
- D'Army Bailey describes the San Francisco Bay area in California
- D'Army Bailey describes running for a seat on the Berkeley City Council in 1971, pt. 1
- D'Army Bailey describes running for a seat on the Berkeley City Council in 1971, pt. 2
- D'Army Bailey describes running for a seat on the Berkeley City Council in 1971, pt. 3
- D'Army Bailey describes winning a seat on the Berkeley City Council in 1971
- D'Army Bailey describes the challenges he faced upon winning a seat on the Berkeley City Council
- D'Army Bailey talks about falling out with the Berkeley Black Caucus
- D'Army Bailey talks about his lack of community organizing training
- D'Army Bailey talks about the opposition he faced on the Berkeley City Council
- D'Army Bailey describes his accomplishments as a Berkeley City Councilman, pt. 1
- D'Army Bailey describes his accomplishments as a Berkeley City Councilman, pt. 2
- D'Army Bailey describes his accomplishments as a Berkeley City Councilman, pt. 3
- D'Army Bailey describes the issues he had with the Vice Mayor of the City of Berkeley, Wilmont Sweeney
- D'Army Bailey describes being recalled from the Berkeley City Council in 1973
- D'Army Bailey describes the support he received during the 1973 election to recall him from the Berkeley City Council
- Slating of D'Army Bailey's interview
- D'Army Bailey talks about his activism as a student at Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana
- D'Army Bailey describes his tense relationship with Huey P. Newton
- D'Army Bailey describes why he moved from Berkeley, California to his hometown of Memphis, Tennessee in 1974
- D'Army Bailey describes how he was perceived upon moving back to Memphis, Tennessee in 1974
- D'Army Bailey describes his experiences working as a part-time public defender in the Shelby County Juvenile Court
- D'Army Bailey describes losing his bid to be appointed as Chief Public Defender for Shelby County
- D'Army Bailey describes serving on the Shelby County capital punishment defense team
- D'Army Bailey talks about representing clients faced with capital punishment
- D'Army Bailey describes his strategy as a defense attorney
- D'Army Bailey comments on false and forced confessions and the death penalty
- D'Army Bailey describes his most memorable cases and the challenges of selecting a jury
- D'Army Bailey describes the attitudes of clients facing capital punishment
- D'Army Bailey talks about serving on the Board of Commissioners for Memphis Gas, Light, and water
- D'Army Bailey describes the condition of the Lorraine Motel and the surrounding area in the 1970s
- D'Army Bailey talks about the area surrounding the Lorraine Motel during his youth
- D'Army Bailey describes meeting Walter Bailey, and working with him to preserve the Lorraine Motel in the late 1970s
- D'Army Bailey describes the shrine to Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Loree Bailey in the Lorraine Motel
- D'Army Bailey describes working with WDIA-FM and incorporating the Lorraine Civil Rights Museum Foundation to preserve the Lorraine Motel, pt. 1
- D'Army Bailey describes working with WDIA-FM and incorporating the Lorraine Civil Rights Museum Foundation to preserve the Lorraine Motel, pt. 2
- D'Army Bailey talks about the 1982 foreclosure and auction of the Lorraine Motel
- D'Army Bailey shares his early vision for the Lorraine Motel
- D'Army Bailey describes raising
- D'Army Bailey describes raising
- 9 million dollars to transform the Lorraine Motel into a museum, pt. 1
- 9 million dollars to transform the Lorraine Motel into a museum, pt. 2
- D'Army Bailey describes Coretta Scott King's response to the development and opening of the National Civil Rights Museum
- D'Army Bailey describes why the Lorraine Civil Rights Museum Foundation transferred the title of the Lorraine Motel to the State of Tennessee
- D'Army Bailey talks about the closure of the Lorraine Motel and Jacqueline Smith, who protested the development of the National Civil Rights Museum
- D'Army Bailey talks about polarization on the board of the Lorraine Civil Rights Museum Foundation
- D'Army Bailey describes resigning as Chairman of the Board of the Lorraine Civil Rights Museum Foundation
- D'Army Bailey critiques Pitt Hyde, Chairman of the Executive Committee of the National Civil Rights Museum
- D'Army Bailey comments on corporate sponsorship of the National Civil Rights Museum and African-American led organizations
- D'Army Bailey describes being elected as a Tennessee Circuit Court judge in 1990
- D'Army Bailey describes trying to win an appointment to serve as a Tennessee Supreme Court Judge, pt. 1
- D'Army Bailey describes trying to win an appointment to serve as a Tennessee Supreme Court Judge, pt. 2
- D'Army Bailey describes his experiences serving as a Tennessee Circuit Court judge, pt. 1
- D'Army Bailey describes his experiences serving as a Tennessee Circuit Court judge, pt. 2
- D'Army Bailey describes presiding over the "Big Tobacco" case
- D'Army Bailey talks about being a fair judge
- D'Army Bailey describes his judicial philosophy
- D'Army Bailey describes retiring as a judge from the Tennessee Circuit court
- D'Army Bailey describes owning a film projector during his childhood
- D'Army Bailey talks about the start of his acting career in the 1989 film "Mystery Train"
- D'Army Bailey describes how he was selected for a role in "The People vs. Larry Flynt"
- D'Army Bailey describes his role as a judge in "The People vs. Larry Flynt"
- D'Army Bailey describes his role as a minister in "How Stella Got Her Groove Back"
- D'Army Bailey talks about additional movies he has appeared in
- D'Army Bailey talks about the books he has written
- D'Army Bailey talks about what he would have done differently in life
- D'Army Bailey reflects upon his legacy
- D'Army Bailey talks about his family and his health
- D'Army Bailey talks about how he would like to be remembered