Legislation	Secretary of Senate	Members	Committees	Meetings	Home	House

SR 604 - Hon. William Augustus Bootle - honoring life

Brown, Robert (26th)	Cable, Susan Watt (27th)

Status Summary	SC:		HC:		FR:	02/23/00	LA:	02/23/00	S - Passed/Adopted

First Reader Summary

A resolution honoring the extraordinary life and career of the Honorable William Augustus Bootle; and for other purposes.

SR 604                                             LC 19 4552 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                             A RESOLUTION 
 
  1- 1  Honoring the extraordinary life and career of the Honorable 
  1- 2  William Augustus Bootle; and for other purposes. 
 
  1- 3  WHEREAS, William Augustus Bootle was born in Walterboro, 
  1- 4  South Carolina, in 1902 and has lived most of his life in 
  1- 5  Macon, Georgia; and 
 
  1- 6  WHEREAS, he graduated from the Walter F. George School of 
  1- 7  Law at Mercer University in 1925; and 
 
  1- 8  WHEREAS, in 1928, at the age of 26 years, he was appointed 
  1- 9  an assistant U.S. Attorney by President Calvin Coolidge; and 
 
  1-10  WHEREAS, President Herbert Hoover appointed him U.S. 
  1-11  Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia in 1929, a 
  1-12  position he held until 1933, and he was appointed to a 
  1-13  federal judgeship on the U.S. District Court for the Middle 
  1-14  District of Georgia by President Eisenhower in 1954; and 
 
  1-15  WHEREAS, he became the dean of Mercer University and was 
  1-16  instrumental in creating the present charter for Mercer 
  1-17  University in 1939; and 
 
  1-18  WHEREAS, his wisdom, innate sense of fairness, and unfailing 
  1-19  good humor earned him many friends and admirers during the 
  1-20  23 years in which he served, many of which were marked with 
  1-21  great challenges in this state and region; and 
 
  1-22  WHEREAS, as much as any federal judge in the South, Judge 
  1-23  Bootle was in the vortex of the civil rights revolution; and 
 
  1-24  WHEREAS, in the face of popular and state government 
  1-25  opposition, he ordered the admission of African American 
  1-26  students to the University of Georgia; and 
 
  1-27  WHEREAS, Judge Bootle, successfully navigated through 
  1-28  tumultuous social currents to find an avenue for peacefully 
  1-29  desegregating Bibb County's schools; and 
 
  1-30  WHEREAS, he also courageously ordered voter registrars to 
  1-31  allow African Americans access to the polls; and 
 
  1-32  WHEREAS, Judge Bootle retired in 1970 and assumed senior 
  1-33  judge status just days after the U.S. Supreme Court declared 
  1-34  school segregation unconstitutional; and 
 
 
                                 -1- 
 
 
 
  2- 1  WHEREAS, in June 1998, the federal courthouse in Macon was 
  2- 2  officially renamed the William Augustus Bootle Federal 
  2- 3  Building and United States Courthouse; and 
 
  2- 4  WHEREAS, he is a devoted member of the First Baptist Church 
  2- 5  of Macon; and 
 
  2- 6  WHEREAS, Judge William Augustus Bootle's illustrious career 
  2- 7  aptly demonstrated his uncommon intellect and fearless 
  2- 8  devotion to duty and it is justly fitting and proper that he 
  2- 9  be duly recognized. 
 
  2-10  NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE that the 
  2-11  members of this body recognize and honor the lifetime of 
  2-12  service and achievement of the Honorable William Augustus 
  2-13  Bootle, whose wise leadership and undeviating commitment to 
  2-14  justice helped to change the course of history in the State 
  2-15  of Georgia and earned him the enduring gratitude of its 
  2-16  citizens. 
 
  2-17  BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of the Senate is 
  2-18  authorized and directed to transmit an appropriate copy of 
  2-19  this resolution to Honorable William A. Bootle. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                 -2-