Twenty-two portraits of eminent members of the Harris County legal community were commissioned by the Houston Bar Association in 1938.  The portraits have been identified by their size and similar gold-toned frames.  The project included district court judges serving in the 11th, 55th, and 61st courts and prominent attorneys and may have been a part of Centennial Celebrations in Texas.

Born in Houston, Texas, on March 24, 1878, Almeron Earl Amerman, served Harris County as County Judge from 1907 – 1913 and the City of Houston as Mayor from 1918 – 1921. As County Judge, Amerman oversaw the $500,000 1910 Courthouse construction.

These nitrate negatives appear to have been taken during a trip to New York State, probably in 1907, as a honeymoon journey. Of interest are cityscapes of New York City
from the harbor, travels up the Hudson River and Niagra Falls.

A collection of 22 portraits of County Judges and Commissioners that hang on the 9th floor of the Harris County Administration Building.

Beatrice Irwin Massey was the first female county commissioner in Harris County. After her husband died in 1935, Massey completed his term as County Commissioner in Precinct 2 and won election in her own right to the office in 1936. The collection includes newspaper clippings, correspondence, endorsements, speeches, and photographs documenting her career and interests. A finding aid to the collection is available on the Harris County Archives website.

In 2006 the 1910 Civil Courthouse closed for renovation and the occupants moved to the new Civil Courthouse on 201 Caroline Street.  As a component of that move, the judges' official portraits in the Civil District Courts, County Courts at Law, Juvenile, and Probate Courts were removed to the Harris County Archives, inventoried, and digitally photographed by Joseph Strange.  The portraits were then returned to the appropriate court.   This collection includes those portraits available as of 2006. 

Roy F. Campbell was born and raised in Houston, Texas. After graduating from Houston High School in 1903, Campbell alternated working for the Southern Pacific Railroad and attending the University of Texas at Austin, during which time he studied law.  He passed the bar exam in 1912 and was admitted to the bar in the same year.  Campbell began his judicial career in the County Courts at Law (1917 – 1924) and later the 80th District Court (1925 – 1956).  He died in 1957.

Correspondence, election materials, photographs, and newspaper clippings document the life and career of Roy Forsythe Campbell from 1890 – 1957.  Of particular interest are letters announcing his admission to the bar, including his exam results, the oath of office taken in 1925 as judge of the 80th District Court, a 1925 election poster, a push card from 1918, and photographs of Campbell and his family. A photograph taken in January 1940 of the 80th District Court shows the interior of a courtroom in the Harris County Courthouse prior to renovation in 1952.