James Lindsay Almond Jr.

J. Lindsay Almond (1898–1986) was born in Charlottesville on June 15, 1898. From a young age, he showed an interest in oratory and politics. By the time he was sixteen, he was making speeches on behalf of local political candidates, a practice that would eventually bring him to the attention of the powerful Democratic United States senator Harry Flood Byrd (1887–1966).

A member of the House of Representatives, attorney general of Virginia, and governor of Virginia through the stormy school integration battles of the late 1950's, was born in Charlottesville. A Democrat, Almond's interest in politics began in his teens. was born in Charlottesville on June 15, 1898.

Massive Resistance

Governor Almond, a Democrat, was one of a series of governors to emerge from the powerful political organization of Senator Harry F. Byrd Sr. He was elected in 1957 as the champion of ''massive resistance'' to integration, a movement led by Senator Byrd that kept public schools across Virginia segregated by race in defiance of the Supreme Court's 1954 decision in Brown v. Board of Education.

In September 1958, when federal judges issued desegregation decrees for schools in Front Royal, Charlottesville, and Norfolk, Almond obeyed the Massive Resistance laws and closed the schools, shutting nearly thirteen thousand students out of their classrooms. When the state and federal courts declared his actions illegal, Almond submitted, thus effectively ending the era of Massive Resistance to desegregation in Virginia.

Family

James Lindsay Almond, Jr., was born June 15, 1898, in Charlottesville, Va. The elder of two sons and second of three children of James Lindsay Almond and Edmonia "Eddie" Nicholas (Burgess) Almond. His father was a locomotive engineer and farmer, and both of his grandfathers and numerous other relatives were Confederate army veterans. Almond began his education in a one-room county public school. After graduating from high school in 1917, he entered the Student Army Training Corps at the University of Virginia. While at the University of Virginia, he served as a private in the Student Army Training Corps in 1917 and 1918. On September 5, 1921, his younger brother, Thomas Burgess Almond was found murdered and left in his car on the road between Orange and “Locust Grove,” his home. At the time, James was a third-year law student at the University, he passed the state Bar examination June 1920. After finishing law school in 1923, Almond worked briefly as a private-practice trial lawyer in Roanoke before becoming assistant commonwealth’s attorney.

His involvement with the powerful Democratic United States senator Harry Flood Byrd (1887–1966) began in 1925, when Almond made several speeches in support of Byrd's gubernatorial campaign. https://www.nga.org/governor/james-lindsay-almond/

James Lindsay Almond, Jr., was born June 15, 1898, in Charlottesville, Va., the son of Lindsay and Eddie Nicholas (Burgess) Almond. While at the University of Virginia, he served as a private in the Student Army Training Corps in 1917 and 1918. His involvement with the powerful Democratic United States senator Harry Flood Byrd (1887–1966) began in 1925, when Almond made several speeches in support of Byrd's gubernatorial campaign. https://www.nga.org/governor/james-lindsay-almond/

In 1925, J. Lindsay Almond married Josephine Katherine Minter (1901-1992) of Roanoke, Va. The Almond's had no children, but raised Mrs. Almond's orphan nephew, Lewis S. Minter, from infancy. Mr. Almond died April 14, 1986, and is buried in Evergreen Cemetery, Roanoke, Va.

Education

University of Virginia School of Law, LL.B., 1923

Federal judicial career

Almond was nominated to the Court of Customs and Patent Appeals by President John F. Kennedy. He was commissioned on July 3, 1963. He assumed senior status on March 1, 1973, and served in that capacity until he was reassigned to the Federal Circuit, receiving his commission for the new court on October 1, 1982, when the Federal Courts Improvement Act of 1982 merged the Court of Customs and Patent Appeals with the United States Court of Claims. He served the Federal Circuit as a senior judge until his death on April 14, 1986.

Professional career

• Private practice, Roanoke, Virginia, 1923-1930
• Assistant commonwealth attorney, Roanoke, Virginia, 1930-1933
• Judge, Hustings Court, Roanoke, Virginia, 1933-1945
• U.S. Representative from Virginia, 1945-1948
• Attorney general, State of Virginia, 1948-1957
• State Governor, Virginia, 1958-1962