Interview with Judge R. Black, May 17, 1966 Page: 1
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Talking History of Abilene Series
Interview of the Honorable J. R. Black
Interviewed by Don Wilson
Date: May 17, 1966
Length of tape: 24 minutes
Don Wilson: How do you do, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Don Wilson. I'm
speaking to you from the studios of radio station KNIT, in Abilene, Texas. In the studio
with me is a man whose name has become synonymous with the legal history of Abilene
and the Big Country. His name is the Honorable J. R. Black, judge of the 42"d Judicial
District Court of the state of Texas. We are going to visit with Judge Black in just a few
moments and get some of the background on this man and the legal history of Abilene
and the Big Country. And this project, which has been sponsored by the Abilene and
Taylor County Legal Secretaries Association.
Judge Black, let's go back to the background of you and your family. First let me
ask you how old a man are you, sir?
Judge Black: Seventy-seven years old.
Don Wilson: This is rather a unique experience for me in getting to cross examine or
examine a district judge, usually, the shoe is on the other foot with the judge asking the
lawyers questions. So I have a rather unique experience. Where were you born, Judge?
Judge Black: I was born in Callahan County on the west side of the Spring Gap
Mountain about five miles southwest of where the town of Admiral later was established.
Don Wilson And would you tell us who your parents were?
Judge Black: George W. Black and Mattie Black, mother and father.
Don Wilson: And were you one of several children, Judge?
Judge Black: Two children, I had a younger brother.
Don Wilson: And where did your parents come from originally?
Judge Black: My father came from East Texas. During the Civil War, his family was
dispersed in some manner, he doesn't know how, and a family took him and brought him
to West Texas.
Don Wilson: And your mother's family where do they come from?
Judge Black: More of the majority of her people lives in Arkansas, but her father and
mother came from Mississippi.1
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Wilson, Don & Black, R. Interview with Judge R. Black, May 17, 1966, text, May 17, 1966; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth865942/m1/1/?q=%22%22~1: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Abilene Public Library.