The Inn's namesake, the Honorable William Augustus Bootle, died in 2005 at the age of 102. The following is the text of one of the obituaries of Judge Bootle:
Judge William Augustus Bootle -- Mercer alumnus, former Law School Dean and professor, and a Lifetime Trustee -- died at his home in Macon early today.
He was born on Aug. 19, 1902, in Walterboro, S.C. He moved with his family to Nashville, Ga., in 1917, then to Reidsville approximately six months later. He graduated from Mercer University in 1924 with a Bachelor of Arts and received his law degree in 1925 from Mercer Law School (now the Walter F. George School of Law at Mercer University), one of the oldest law schools in the country. Judge Bootle's many contributions to the University include serving as a Law School professor and then Dean from 1933-37. He is a lifetime Mercer Trustee, after serving five years on the Board.
"Gus" Bootle was appointed U.S. Attorney in 1928. He was later appointed U.S. District judge by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1954. During his distinguished legal career, he ordered the admission of African-American students to the University of Georgia, desegregation of the Bibb County Schools and access of African-Americans to the polls.
One of his numerous high-profile cases occurred in 1960 with the desegregation of the University of Georgia. When Hamilton Holmes and Charlayne Hunter stepped onto the UGA campus on Jan. 9, 1961, it was due in part to Judge Bootle who had issued a 28-page ruling in the case of Holmes v. Danner (UGA registrar Walter Danner). He found that Holmes and Hunter "are fully qualified for immediate admission" and, what's more, "would already have been admitted had it not been for their race and color."
While Judge Bootle stayed his own ruling allowing the state the opportunity to appeal, he later granted a temporary injunction restraining the governor from cutting off funds to the University. Vernon Jordan, who was a law clerk for Holmes-Hunter legal team, led the victory chant: "From Bootle to Tuttle to Black and back."
Judge Bootle was also one of many prominent Americans who called on President Clinton to grant Dr. Preston King a pardon (granted in 2000). Judge Bootle had presided over the original case in 1961, where King was charged with draft evasion and sentenced to 18 months in prison. Judge Bootle remarked with candor, "Looking back at the whole picture, the case would never have arisen if not for racial discrimination." "He has paid a big price," Judge Bootle wrote in a letter to President Clinton. "To lock him up today would amount to overkill."
In June 1998, the federal courthouse in Macon was officially renamed the William Augustus Bootle Federal Building and United States Courthouse.
In April 1999, the Mercer University Board of Trustees voted to endow a teaching chair — focused on professionalism and ethics in the practice of law — after Judge Bootle. In presenting Judge Bootle with a framed resolution signifying the chair named in his honor, University President R. Kirby Godsey stated, "He has provided the highest moral standards and integrity as a leader of this University for three-quarters of a century."
Judge Bootle's wife of many years, Virginia Childs Bootle, preceded him in death on June 24, 2004.
Several years ago, the Georgia legislature honored Judge Bootle with the following resolution:
Georgia Senate Resolution 604 (2000)
A RESOLUTION
Honoring the extraordinary life and career of the Honorable
William Augustus Bootle; and for other purposes.
WHEREAS, William Augustus Bootle was born in Walterboro, South Carolina, in 1902 and has lived most of his life in Macon, Georgia; and
WHEREAS, he graduated from the Walter F. George School of Law at Mercer University in 1925; and
WHEREAS, in 1928, at the age of 26 years, he was appointed an assistant U.S. Attorney by President Calvin Coolidge; and
WHEREAS, President Herbert Hoover appointed him U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia in 1929, a position he held until 1933, and he was appointed to a federal judgeship on the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia by President Eisenhower in 1954; and
WHEREAS, he became the dean of Mercer University and was instrumental in creating the present charter for Mercer University in 1939; and
WHEREAS, his wisdom, innate sense of fairness, and unfailing good humor earned him many friends and admirers during the 23 years in which he served, many of which were marked with great challenges in this state and region; and
WHEREAS, as much as any federal judge in the South, Judge Bootle was in the vortex of the civil rights revolution; and
WHEREAS, in the face of popular and state government opposition, he ordered the admission of African American students to the University of Georgia; and
WHEREAS, Judge Bootle, successfully navigated through tumultuous social currents to find an avenue for peacefully desegregating Bibb County's schools; and
WHEREAS, he also courageously ordered voter registrars to allow African Americans access to the polls; and
WHEREAS, Judge Bootle retired in 1970 and assumed senior judge status just days after the U.S. Supreme Court declared school segregation unconstitutional; and
WHEREAS, in June 1998, the federal courthouse in Macon was officially renamed the William Augustus Bootle Federal Building and United States Courthouse; and
WHEREAS, he is a devoted member of the First Baptist Church of Macon; and
WHEREAS, Judge William Augustus Bootle's illustrious career aptly demonstrated his uncommon intellect and fearless devotion to duty and it is justly fitting and proper that he be duly recognized.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE that the members of this body recognize and honor the lifetime of service and achievement of the Honorable William Augustus Bootle, whose wise leadership and undeviating commitment to justice helped to change the course of history in the State of Georgia and earned him the enduring gratitude of its citizens.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of the Senate is authorized and directed to transmit an appropriate copy of this resolution to Honorable William A. Bootle.