Maury Maverick Jr. facts for kids

The Maury Maverick Jr. Library at 8700 Mystic Park in San Antonio, Texas, opened in 2006. It is accessible from Bandera Road.

Fontaine Maury Maverick Jr. (born January 3, 1921 – died January 28, 2003) was an important American lawyer, politician, and writer from Texas. He was known for fighting for people's rights. His family was famous; his great-grandfather, Samuel Maverick, was a rancher who signed the Texas Declaration of Independence. Samuel was also known for not branding his cattle. Maury Jr.'s father, Maury Maverick Sr., was also a politician who served in the United States House of Representatives.

Maury Maverick Jr.'s Life and Work

Early Life and Military Service

Maury Maverick Jr. graduated from the Texas Military Institute in 1938. He then earned a degree in economics in 1942. During World War II, he served in the United States Marine Corps. He saw action in the Pacific Ocean area. After the war, Maverick returned to San Antonio. He earned his law degree from St. Mary's University in 1949.

Serving in the Texas Legislature

In 1950, Maverick was elected to the Texas House of Representatives. He was a Democrat. He was known as a strong "liberal." This means he believed in social progress and protecting individual freedoms.

He supported organized labor (workers' unions). He also fought for civil rights for African Americans. Maverick was against the "Red Scare." This was a time when people were unfairly accused of being communists. In one famous event, he stopped a bill that would have given the death penalty to convicted communists. He added a change to the bill that would give life in prison to people only suspected of communism. This made the bill too extreme, so it failed. He chose not to run for a fourth term in 1956.

Running for U.S. Senate

In 1961, Maverick ran for the United States Senate. This was his last time running for a public office. He had support from the Texas AFL-CIO, a large labor union group. He finished fourth among the main Democratic candidates. The election was very close.

Working for Civil Rights

After leaving the Texas House, Maverick became a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). The ACLU works to protect people's rights. He represented many different people. These included civil rights protestors, atheists, and even communists. During the Vietnam War, he also helped people who refused to fight because of their beliefs. These people were called conscientious objectors.

In 1964, he worked on an important case called Stanford v. Texas. He represented a bookstore owner named John W. Stanford Jr. This owner was accused of selling books by authors like Karl Marx. The case went all the way to the Supreme Court. It became a landmark case about freedom of speech. This means it helped define how much people can say or write freely. Another well-known client of his was Madalyn Murray O'Hair, a famous atheist.

Becoming a Newspaper Columnist

In 1966, Maverick married painter Julia Orynski. He slowly started to practice law less. He began writing editorials for different newspapers. By 1980, he stopped practicing law completely. He started writing a regular Sunday column for the San Antonio Express-News. He wrote this column for 23 years.

His columns covered many topics and often caused debate. For example, he supported the Palestinian people in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. He also wrote a tribute to Jeannette Rankin, a congresswoman who voted against entering both World War I and World War II. His friend, A.R. Schwartz, called him "one of the last of the red-hot liberals."

In 1991, the American Bar Association gave him an award. It was for his work on over 300 pro bono cases. "Pro bono" means he handled these legal cases for free. In 1997, a book of his columns was published. It was called Texas Iconoclast.

Death and Legacy

In January 2003, Maury Maverick Jr. wrote his last column. In it, he spoke out against the upcoming Iraq War. He called it "unjust." Soon after, he went to the hospital for kidney disease. He died on January 28, 2003, at 82 years old. A public library in his hometown of San Antonio is named after him.