A voting rights victory in West Tennessee helped win enactment of the Civil Rights Act of 1960, signed by President Eisenhower, and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, both signed by President Lyndon Johnson. Russell Fowler gives us the historical perspective.

Tennessee Bar Association members who have died recently are memorialized.

The TBA is now accepting applications for the award-winning Public Service Academy (PSA), back after a two-year break due to the pandemic. The PSA is a bipartisan, statewide effort to encourage attorneys to take on public service leadership roles in their communities and run for office. Those accepted for the program will take part in a two-day program Sept. 8-9,and a two-day program Nov. 18-19. Both sessions will be in Nashville featuring top political and campaign experts. Applications are due by July 22, so apply now or encourage your friends and colleagues who have aspirations for public service to apply.

For the second year in a row, a law student from Belmont College of Law has won the 2022 ABA Journal/Ross Writing Contest. Frank Toub, who is entering his third year, won for his short story “Dope Fiend” — his first stab at fiction writing. The central theme of the story came from advice given to Toub’s wife, who works remotely for a Pennsylvania law firm: “If you can do something for another that means a lot to that person, but it costs you little, you should do it every time.” A criminal defendant in the story follows this advice when she helps her alcoholic lawyer. Toub said he wanted to explore addiction “through the lens of an attorney who could clearly see his client’s issues but not see the issues in himself.” Toub is a former project engineer and Army veteran who decided to go to law school on the GI Bill. After he graduates, he will join the law firm of Baker Donelson. The ABA Journal reports it will publish the story on its website the week of Thanksgiving.

The TBA recently announced it is hosting a book club that will meet quarterly over the next 12 months. After polling members to select the first book, participants have chosen Killers of the Flower Moon — a true-life murder mystery involving the Osage Nation in Oklahoma. Shortly after discovering oil on its reservation, Osage people began dying under mysterious circumstances. Several who investigated the killings also were murdered. The newly created FBI, under the leadership of director J. Edgar Hoover, teamed up with the Texas Rangers to tackle what would prove to be one of the most chilling conspiracies in American history. Start reading now and watch for details about an upcoming discussion on the book, featuring a special guest, in September.