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Spessard L. Holland

(1892-1975)

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Spessard L. Holland

Called by President Lyndon Johnson, “one of five most powerful men in the Senate.” In response to reporter’s question, President Dwight Eisenhower named him as “THE Democrat who would make an outstanding president.” ABC Newsman/Commentator Howard K. Smith said he was “the most respected member of the U.S. Senate over the longest period of time.” Back home, he is called by many experts, “the greatest Floridian ever,” and by others, “the greatest Governor Florida ever had.” And from a small two-man law office in Bartow in 1916, he changed, grew and merged the firm into one of the world’s largest.

Born 1892, in Bartow. Married Mary Agnes Groover (born in Fort White) in Lakeland, 1919, and they had four children: Spessard Lindsey Holland Jr., UFLaw ‘48 (1921-1989); Mary Groover Holland (1924-1997); William Benjamin Holland, UFLaw ‘49 (1926-1974); and Ivanhoe Holland Craney.

College Education / Achievements

  • Ph.B. Emory College (now University), magna cum laude, 1912; Alpha Tau Omega, Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Kappa Phi, Phi Delta Phi; lettered in football, baseball, basketball, track; inducted posthumously into Emory Athletic Hall of Fame, 1992.
  • University of Florida College of Law, 1916; student body president, lettered in baseball (offered Philadelphia Athletics pro baseball contract by Connie Mack)
  • Honorary degrees: Universities of Tampa, Miami, Emory, Florida State, Florida; Florida Southern College
  • Honored by UF College of Law, 1969, with naming of Holland Law Center

Legal Experience

  • Practiced law in Bartow starting in 1916
  • Served as Brigade Judge Advocate in France, World War I, with 31st Artillery Brigade.
  • Polk County Prosecuting Attorney, 1919-20
  • Judge, Polk County, 1921-29
  • Founded law firm in 50s that grew and changed partners until ‘68, when it merged with Tampa firm to become Holland & Knight, LLP (among 15 largest firms in world).

Non-Legal Achievements

  • High School Teacher, Warrenton, GA, 1912-14
  • World War I, 24th Squadron, Army Air Corps; Distinguished Service Cross
  • Trustee, Southern College, 1932-35
  • Trustee, Emory University, 1943-46

Associations / Organizations / Honors

  • Florida Senate, 1932-40
  • Governor of Florida, 1941-45
    • Promoted establishment of military bases in state, instrumental in creation of Everglades National Park, created independent Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission, pushed Gasoline Tax Amendment (road building), laid tax foundation for modernizing state’s public school system
  • United States Senator, 1946-71(elected four times, served five presidents)
    • Drafted, sponsored 24th Constitutional Amendment (outlawing poll tax as prerequisite to voting); introduced Tidelands Act (guaranteeing states’ ownership of submerged lands).
    • One of original sponsors of statehood for Alaska, first Southerner to support Hawaii statehood.

Published: June 26th, 2014

Category: Alumni

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The Florida Constitutional Law Endowment in memory of Justice Ben F. Overton was created by Judge Karen Miller in 2013. This fund supports lectures and presentations by Justices of the Florida Supreme Court at the Fredric G. Levin College of Law.

HISTORY

Justice Overton, who earned his B.S. in 1951 and his Juris Doctor in 1952 from the University of Florida, was the first merit appointment to the Florida Supreme Court. Throughout his career he was active in legal education and served as an Adjunct Professor at the Levin College of Law through December 2012, the month of his death. Although he resided at Oak Hammock at the University of Florida, a continuing care retirement community developed in cooperation with UF, he also considered the Florida Supreme Court “home.” Among the high points of his later years was hosting Justices of the Florida Supreme Court in Gainesville and taking his class to Tallahassee to hear oral arguments at the Florida Supreme Court.
Judge Miller, who earned her B.S. cum laude from New York University in 1974 and her Juris Doctor from New York Law School in 1977, served as Chief Administrative Law Judge of the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs, New York City’s business regulatory agency, before she retired to Oak Hammock at the University of Florida. Having accompanied Justice Overton on his excursions to Tallahassee and joined him in welcoming guests to Oak Hammock at the University of Florida, she created the endowment in memory of Justice Overton to ensure that the Levin College of Law continues to have the funding necessary to continue and enhance the interaction between its students and the Florida Supreme Court.

 

Judge Miller remembered the event that motivated the endowment.

 

Prior to a dinner at the home of Dean Robert Jerry and Lisa Jerry shortly after Justice Overton’s death, Justice Barbara Pariente and I were discussing a suitable memorial. Justice Pariente, who had been Justice Overton’s colleague on the Florida Supreme Court and who understood the importance to him of the interaction between his students and the Court, suggested the outline of what has become the Overton lectures. Dean Jerry, who has since retired, as has Dean Emeritus Jon Mills, who assumed responsibility for implementing the Overton lectures, were very supportive from the beginning. Since Dean Mills’ retirement, Professor Timothy McClendon, who assisted both Justice Overton and Dean Mills teaching Florida Constitutional Law and who co-authored the recent Florida Constitutional Law casebook, has continued the Overton lectures with the support of Interim Dean Merritt McAlister and CGR director, Professor Danaya Wright.

Justice Overton was a devoted jurist, educator, and ethical leader of the Florida legal profession. The Overton Lecture Series brings Florida Supreme Court Justices to the University of Florida, Levin College of Law, and serves to introduce students to the inner workings of the Court. CGR and the students of the College of Law extend our deepest gratitude to Judge Karen Miller for making the Overton Lectures possible in perpetuity.

You can watch an interview for the Florida Historical Society by Mary Adkins, professor emeritus of the UF Levin College of Law, with Justice Overton here.

Justice Overton was also interviewed for the Samuel Proctor Oral History Project and a transcript of his interview is available at the Smathers Library, and here.
Justice Overton sat on the Constitution Revision Commission of 1977-78 that proposed a right to privacy in the Florida Constitution. Although it failed as part of the Constitution Revision Commission recommendations, it passed in 1980 when proposed by the legislature. The bill was co-sponsored by our very own Jon Mills. The privacy provision prevailed by greater than 60%. Justice Overton then wrote a concurrence in a critical reproductive rights case in 1989 affirming that the privacy provision of the Florida Constitution included the right to obtain an abortion. That decision was overruled in Planned Parenthood of SW and Central Florida v. Florida. You can read about the role of Justice Overton, Jon Mills – director emeritus of CGR, and the history of the 1989 case here.