North Carolina is only one of a
few states to have a growing collection of judicial portraits. Portraits of
44 former associate justices and 21 former chief justices hang on the walls
of the Supreme Court.
Families normally donate the portrait to the Supreme Court after
an unveiling ceremony in the courtroom. Remarks about the justice made
at the ceremony are retained in the NC Reports, helping to retain a
glimpse of the person behind the opinions. About one portrait is hung
each year with the chief justices' portraits hung inside the courtroom,
and the associate justices' hung in the hallways leading to the courtroom.
The NC Supreme Court Historical Society is working to obtain four additional portraits
to complete the collection.
Each portrait contains its own history. The portrait of Chief Justice
John Louis Taylor, for example, (the only foreign-born chief justice),
was reproduced in the mid-1800s from an eighteenth century locket. Also,
well-known artist Everett Raymond Kinstler painted two portraits,Chief
Justices R. Hunt Parker and John Wallace Winborne.
This site has portraits and remarks made from the past eight unveiling
ceremonies.