The R. Eugene Pincham
Papers Collection consists of more than fifty carefully organized and
mounted scrapbooks that chronicle principal events in Judge Pincham’s
career and document important aspects of the Pinchams’ family life.
Handsomely bound transcripts of legal cases in which Judge Pincham
participated complement scrapbooks and related personal papers.
Collections of correspondence and electronic media complete the
Collection.
Pincham scrapbooks are
organized chronologically and numbered sequentially. The earliest
volume documents 1954 and the latest represents 1979. The series
resumes in 2002 and continues through January 2008. Separate
scrapbooks contain correspondence and "The Pincham Family Tree."
Three books organize
expressions of condolence the family the family received after the
deaths of William H. Pincham, Jr. (1925—1994), Amy Lou Pincham
(1908—1992) and Hazel Pincham Caldwell (1904—1960).
Another scrapbook is
devoted to the 1973 celebration of R. Eugene and Alzata Pincham’s
twenty five years of marriage. A second volume covers their thirtieth
anniversary in 1978. This series of scrapbooks also features two
volumes charmingly titled “R. Eugene Pincham’s Love Letters to
Alzata C. Henry, Dec. 1945 to Aug. 1947.”
Four scrapbooks
emphasize Alzata Pincham’s work with Trinity United Church of
Christ’s “Can-cer Vive Ministry.” These collections also
include Mrs. Pincham’s collection of materials about cancer and the
two volumes “Memorial Book” compiled after her death.
Before and during the
hiatus in Pincham chronological scrapbooks special topics books are
devoted to materials documenting the “Death of Dr. Martin Luther
King,” “American tragedies,” and “Harold Washington (two
volumes).” Newspaper clippings Judge Pincham thought particularly
notable were compiled between 1976 and 1979 and resumed in 1980 for
thirteen years, ending in 1993.
Two particularly
interesting books hold correspondence between “Justice R. Eugene
Pincham and Reverend Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr.” These letters were
written between 1995 and 2002.
Plaques and documents
and photographs and other moving memorabilia fill the last box called
“Memorial Tributes.”
Contemporary archival
collections usually include compact discs or DVDs. The Pincham
Collection is no exception. Researchers will enjoy the opportunity to
hear speeches or remarks by Judge Pincham as well as enjoy the spirit
of major events as they unfold once again thanks to the media section
of the Collection.
Chicago State
University’s archivists are only beginning the satisfying journey
processing The Pincham Collection and preparing it for exhibits and
research represents. Judge and Mrs. Pincham’s belief in education
and conviction of its importance for the community will be well
served by the educational opportunities the Collection affords.
Historians of the law, law school students and pre-law undergraduates
will find the Collection particularly rich for its documentation of
the major Chicago figure in jurisprudence the Pincham Collection
presents. R. Eugene and Alzata’s personal journey from modest
origins in the south to busy and fulfilled lives in Chicago will
inform study of the growth of their home neighborhood and city as
well as of institutions they participated in such as Trinity United
Church of Christ.
