James Dickson Phillips

Life and Orange County connections

Storylines this person is part of, in date order. Each has its own page.

Dated events connected with this person, in date order. See these 12 dated events in the chronology →

1. October 1, 1948 George Esser and Alexander McMahon join the Institute of Government Recruited by Coates at Harvard Law School that spring, Esser and McMahon started the same day, joining new Carolina law graduates Donald McCoy and Dickson Phillips; Philip Green came a few months later. It was the largest group of assistant directors Coates had yet employed, and he put them to work on the Charlotte-Mecklenburg study. People: George H. Esser Jr., Albert Coates, James Dickson Phillips, Philip P. Green Jr. Place: Institute of Government building, East Franklin Street, Chapel Hill · Also named: J. Alexander McMahon, Donald McCoy, Philip GreenSearch the index · Howard E. Covington Jr., The Good Government Man: Albert Coates and the Early Years of the Institute of Government (2018), p. 215
2. 1960 Dickson Phillips joins the UNC law faculty After a decade of law practice in Laurinburg and Fayetteville, J. Dickson Phillips returned to the University of North Carolina School of Law in Chapel Hill as a lecturer and associate professor. He stayed on the faculty until 1978. Place: Chapel Hill · Also mentions: University of North Carolina School of LawSearch the index · Federal Judicial Center: Phillips, James Dickson, Jr. (Biographical Directory of Article III Federal Judges)
3. 1964 to 1974 Dickson Phillips serves as dean of the UNC School of Law Phillips led the law school for ten years. Enrollment nearly doubled, from 376 to 700, the school moved into the new Van Hecke-Wettach Hall in 1968, and he started the Holderness Moot Court program and widened the clinical courses. Place: Chapel Hill · Also mentions: Van Hecke-Wettach HallSearch the index · Kathrine R. Everett Law Library: Judge James Dickson Phillips, Jr., Professor and Dean of the Law School · Also: The Daily Tar Heel, December 5, 1973, p. 1; The Daily Tar Heel, March 20, 1974, p. 1; The Daily Tar Heel, January 31, 1978, p. 1
4. May 3, 1969 Chief Justice Earl Warren dedicates the Van Hecke-Wettach law building U.S. Chief Justice Earl Warren gave the main address at the dedication of the law school's Van Hecke-Wettach building, held on Fetzer Field with Dean J. Dickson Phillips presiding and President William Friday and Chancellor J. Carlyle Sitterson attending. The building, named for former deans Maurice T. Van Hecke and Robert H. Wettach, had been finished the summer before and opened for classes in fall 1968. People: James Dickson Phillips, William C. Friday, J. Carlyle Sitterson Place: Fetzer Field, UNC, Chapel Hill · Also named: Earl Warren, Maurice T. Van Hecke, Robert H. WettachSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, May 4, 1969, p. 1
5. by January 26, 1972 UNC offers a combined degree in law and city and regional planning The School of Law and the Department of City and Regional Planning began offering a combined program that let a student earn both the law degree and the planning degree in four years and a summer instead of five, to prepare lawyers for planning, housing, renewal and environmental agencies. People: James Dickson Phillips, John A. Parker Place: School of Law, University of North Carolina, Chapel HillSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, January 26, 1972, p. 4
6. by November 10, 1973 The UNC law school declines a Hickory law firm's request for the names of students who signed an impeachment petition A Hickory firm wrote Dean J. Dickson Phillips asking for the names of law students who signed a petition for impeachment proceedings after the firing of Archibald Cox; the school said it would not comply, Phillips saying he did not have the information. The Student Bar Association posted the letter so students would know of the request. People: James Dickson Phillips Place: School of Law, University, Chapel HillSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, November 10, 1973, p. 4
7. by December 5, 1973 Dickson Phillips announces he will step down as dean of the UNC law school J. Dickson Phillips said he would leave the deanship at the end of the academic year after two five-year terms, having asked as early as April not to be considered for a third, and would stay on the faculty; Chancellor Taylor named a search committee for his successor. The Daily Tar Heel credited his deanship with substantial growth in enrollment and national standing. People: James Dickson Phillips, N. Ferebee Taylor Place: School of Law, University, Chapel HillSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, December 5, 1973, p. 1
8. early March 1974 Chancellor Taylor names Robert G. Byrd dean of the Law School Chancellor N. Ferebee Taylor appointed Professor Robert G. Byrd, a member of the law faculty since 1963, dean of the School of Law from July 1, succeeding J. Dickson Phillips, dean since 1964, who was returning to teaching. Taylor said he chose Byrd after interviewing every law faculty member and the two students on the selection committee. People: N. Ferebee Taylor, James Dickson Phillips Place: School of Law, University, Chapel Hill · Also named: Robert G. ByrdSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, March 20, 1974, p. 1
9. April 19, 1974 The Faculty Council puts four students on its committee on minorities and the disadvantaged Acting on proposals from Daniel T. Young of the UNC chapter of the American Association of University Professors, the Faculty Council required four students, appointed by the student body president, on the committee on the Status of Minorities and the Disadvantaged, and asked appointing authorities to consider color, age, sex, rank and tenure in making up faculty committees. It rejected four other proposed changes, among them student seats on the Athletics committee. People: James Dickson Phillips, N. Ferebee Taylor Place: Hamilton Hall, UNC, Chapel Hill · Also named: Daniel T. YoungSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, April 22, 1974, p. 1
10. 1977 Dickson Phillips receives the Thomas Jefferson Award The University of North Carolina faculty gave Phillips its Thomas Jefferson Award, its highest faculty honor, the year before he left the law school for the federal appeals court. Place: Chapel HillSearch the index · Kathrine R. Everett Law Library: Judge James Dickson Phillips, Jr., Scholarship and Public Service · Also: The Daily Tar Heel, January 31, 1978, p. 1
11. March 18, 1977 UNC's Faculty Council asks for yearly recognition of the racial-equality cause and a merit scholarship for Black students By a 21-19 vote the Faculty Council asked Chancellor N. Ferebee Taylor to find a way for the University to recognize each year the cause of racial equality and its leaders, after members struck from the recommendation an annual observance of Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday and his name. It then voted unanimously to ask officials to seek private money for a scholarship for Black students awarded without regard to need, which supporters likened to a 'black Morehead'; both came from the Committee on the Status of Minorities and the Disadvantaged, chaired by Charles E. Daye, along with calls to hire more Black, minority and women faculty. People: Charles E. Daye, James Dickson Phillips, E. M (Elie Maynard) Adams, N. Ferebee Taylor Place: University, Chapel HillSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, March 21, 1977, p. 1
12. April 5, 1978 Two white applicants sue UNC's law school, charging reverse discrimination Two white applicants denied admission to the UNC School of Law filed a $25,000 suit in the U.S. Middle District Court charging that less qualified minority students had been admitted in their place, a case observers likened to the Bakke case then before the U.S. Supreme Court. Named as defendants were President William C. Friday, Chancellor N. Ferebee Taylor, Dean Robert G. Byrd and former Dean J. Dickson Phillips. People: William C. Friday, N. Ferebee Taylor, James Dickson Phillips Place: UNC School of Law, Chapel Hill (suit filed in federal court) · Also named: Robert G. ByrdSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, April 7, 1978, p. 1