Location: NC 181 (Green Street) in Morganton
County: Burke
Original Date Cast: 2011
Samuel James Ervin, Jr. (1896-1985) constituted North Carolina’s last link with an era when Southern politicians, like Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard Russell, dominated the United States Senate. Educated at the University of North Carolina and Harvard, Ervin served in France during World War I. After years as a legislator and trial lawyer, he served as a judge, first of the Burke County criminal court, 1935-37; then of the North Carolina superior court, 1937-43; then as an associate justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court, 1948-54. In 1946-47, by appointment, he replaced his brother Joseph in the U.S. House of Representatives but did not seek reelection.
Ervin's tenure in the U.S. Senate also came by appointment, by Governor Luther Hodges on June 5, 1954, to fill the unexpired term of Clyde Hoey, but Ervin was a durable politician, being elected to the post in 1954, 1960, and 1968. In 1973-74, during the Ninety-third Congress, Senator Ervin chaired the Select committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, popularly known as the Watergate Committee. He did not seek reelection in 1974 and died in Winston-Salem on April 23, 1985. He is buried in Forest Hill Cemetery in Morganton.
The North Carolina Collection at UNC-Chapel Hill has cataloged forty-eight items by Senator Ervin and fifty-four about him. From an early age, he delivered addresses on North Carolina history and the topics covered in items in the UNC library (where his papers are housed) include Sir Walter Raleigh, the colonial history of Rowan County, William Henry Belk, Carl Sandburg, and Albert Coates. Karl Campbell’s 2007 biography bids to be is, for now, the last word on Ervin’s legacy. Campbell presents a nuanced assessment of Ervin’s career and achievements, from his opposition to civil rights legislation and the Equal Right Amendment to his advocacy of civil liberties and status as a folk hero.
References:
Karl E. Campbell, Senator Sam Ervin, Last of the Founding Fathers (2007)
Paul Clancy, Just a Country Lawyer (1974)
Sam J. Ervin, Jr., Preserving the Constitution: The Autobiography of Senator Sam J. Ervin, Jr. (1984)
Sam J. Ervin, Jr., The Whole Truth: The Watergate Conspiracy (1980)
Sam J. Ervin, Jr., Humor of a Country Lawyer (1983)
Biographical Directory to Congress online: http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=E000211