Harlan Hobart Grooms

Who was Harlan Hobart Grooms?

Harlan Hobart Grooms was a United States federal judge.

Born in Montgomery County, Kentucky, Grooms received an LL.B. from the University of Kentucky College of Law in 1926, and was in private practice in Birmingham, Alabama from 1926 to 1953, also serving in the United States Army Reserve from 1926 to 1939.

On July 23, 1953, Grooms was nominated by President Dwight D. Eisenhower to a seat on the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama vacated by Clarence Mullins. Grooms was confirmed by the United States Senate on July 31, 1953, and received his commission on August 3, 1953. He assumed senior status on February 3, 1969, serving in that capacity until his death, in 1991.

On July 1, 1955, Judge Grooms entered an order in the case of Lucy v. Adams, D.C., 134 F.Supp. 235, permanently enjoining the Dean of Admissions of the University of Alabama from denying Negroes the right to enroll therein and pursue courses of study thereat solely on account of their race or color.