The Senator Sam J. Ervin, Jr. Library and Museum is located within the library at Western Piedmont…read moreCommunity College in Morganton, NC. The library is inside Phifer Hall; there is a book return in front of the building. It was challenging to find the library as I missed the sign that said upper level; I just saw the arrow to the left. But then didn't see another sign. I went into a faculty office and asked for directions.
The library is on the second floor, and the museum is inside the library. It is a small museum, but it is mighty and full of history with 7,500 items from the Senator's home. When you arrive, check in with the library staff, and someone will let you into the museum and give you an overview.
I arrived later than expected, so I didn't have as much time as I would have liked, but I still feel I learned a lot, and I even managed to fit in the 30-minute video of Sam Ervin and the Watergate hearings. I highly recommend watching or at least listening to the video as you go through that room to get a feel for who Sam J. Ervin, Jr. was and why he is so beloved. He had a sense of humor and seemed personable, but he also went to Harvard Law School and graduated with honors.
Ervin had passed the NC State Bar before entering Harvard Law School. He did it by just reading the law. He even did law school backwards, starting with year three classes, then year two and finishing with year one. Upon graduating from UNC-Chapel Hill in 1917, his diploma actually had to be mailed to him because he had already left for basic training. (WWI) After returning from combat, he worried that his hometown sweetheart, Margaret Bruce Bell, might not wait for him to finish three years of law school.
Because he already had his law license, he originally intended to stay at Harvard for only one year, so he took the advanced third-year classes that interested him the most first, just in case he had to leave early. When he found out she was willing to wait, he decided to stay and finish the rest of the degree. (She waited, and they were happily married for over 50 years.)
Ervin described himself as "just a country lawyer," but he was a well-known and respected United States Senator, and he exposed the Nixon Administration's abuse of the Democratic process. Constitutional law was a subject matter he knew well. "Senator Sam" chaired the Senate Judiciary Committee's subcommittees on Constitutional Rights, Revision and Codification of the Laws, and Separation of Powers. Defending the Constitution was important to the Senator.
Ervin's desk is what you first see when you start your visit. It confused me at first, as there were file drawers on both sides, but it was explained to me that one side was for whoever he was working with at the time. There is a collection of Mark Twain items in a case behind the desk.
You can see the gavel he used during the Select Committee Hearings on Watergate that was given to him by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. One of the rooms has political cartoons, awards, mementos, photos, even Watergate-based board games and a chess set.
The replica of Ervin's home library and study is stunning. I was told they did everything exactly how it was, so if a book was tipped or backward, that is how it is here. His collection of books was preserved, along with the furniture, doors, windows, rugs, books and mementos. It makes you feel like you are inside his house.
While exploring the museum, I kept wondering who will be the Sam J. Ervin, Jr. of our generation. Sadly, I'm not sure we have anyone today with the backbone to stand and protect our institutions and preserve American democracy the way "Senator Sam" stood up to Nixon. If you are deeply interested in our nation, how it was founded, and what it takes to defend it, this mighty little hidden gem belongs at the top of your North Carolina travel itinerary!
