Collection Title: Jackson Purchase Oral History Project – Politics and Government
Series Number: OH178
Interviewee: Prichard, Edward Fretwell, Jr.
Interviewer: J. Riley Venza, Jr.
Date interviewed: November 1, 1976; December 7, 1976; April 19, 1977 and a date unknown.
Processed by: Processed by Benjamin J. Drake in August of 2012.
Date processed: September 10, 2012
Description: 7 sound discs (4 hours 44 minutes)
Abstract: Edward Fretwell Prichard, Jr. recounts his life in Kentucky during the first half of the 20th century. He discusses working in Washington, D. C. before and during the Second World War. He describes life in Paris, Kentucky, the politics of the region and his great admiration for Woodrow Wilson. He examines his college years at Princeton University and Harvard Law School where he met his mentor, Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter. Prichard recalls his time in the nation's capital from 1938 to 1945, including his work at the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the Justice Department, the Office of Production Management, War Production Board, War Labor Board and the Office of Economic Stabilization. The interview concludes with his return to Bourbon County in 1945 and his conviction in 1948 for voter fraud.
Biographical / Historical note: Edward Fretwell Prichard, Jr. was born on January 21, 1915 in Paris, Kentucky. He entered Princeton University at the age of 15 and after graduation attended Harvard Law School. While at Harvard, Prichard served as a research assistant to Felix Frankfurter and followed him to Washington, D.C. upon his appointment to the Supreme Court in 1938. In Washington, Prichard served with the Immigration Service as an assistant to the United States Attorney General. He also served on the War Production Board as legal counsel and advisor for President Franklin D. Roosevelt. In 1945, he returned to Bourbon County, Kentucky to practice law. Three years later he was convicted of voter fraud in a county election and sentenced to federal prison, but was pardoned by President Harry S. Truman in 1950. Throughout the 1950s, 60s, and 70s Prichard served as an advisor to several Kentucky governors. In 1966, he was appointed to the Kentucky Council on Higher Education, which after 1981 was renamed the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence. He died on December 23, 1984.
General information: No user access to original recordings. Use audio user copies, digital derivatives, transcripts, and/or tape indexes. This collection may be protected from unauthorized copying by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code). Permission for reproduction must be requested from Murray State University.
Subject Headings / Descriptors:
Prichard, Edward Fretwell, 1915-1984.
Frankfurter, Felix, 1882-1965.
United States. Immigration and Naturalization Service.
United States. War Production Board.
Kentucky – Politics and government.
United States – Politics and government.
Bourbon County (Ky.) – History.
