Judge Ira Ellsworth Robinson: West Virginia Statesman and Man of Letters

Judge Ira E. Robinson lived all of his life in northern West Virginia. Son of a homemaker and a farmer/shoemaker, he became, at age thirty-eight, chief justice of the Supreme Court of Appeals for West Virginia. He later became special assistant to the attorney general of the United States, then chair of the infant Federal Radio Commission. Correspondent with several presidents of the United States as well as numerous senators and other government officials, Robinson was the only Supreme Court dissenter in the question of martial law during the mine wars in southern West Virginia. His personal life was one of tragedy and sorrow. When he died in 1951, he was virtually penniless, but he left a wealth of artifacts, including 28,393 pieces of correspondence and memorabilia now housed in the archives at West Virginia University. The story of this great mans life is based on those materials.Smith, Barbara is the author of 'Judge Ira Ellsworth Robinson: West Virginia Statesman and Man of Letters', published 2007 under ISBN 9781424177073 and ISBN 1424177073.