Everette James, Jr., MD'63, top left, and his wife Nancy Farmer pose with North Carolina Lt. Governor Bev Perdue and her husband Bob Eaves upon receiving the Long Leaf Pine Award. Lower photo: one of many North Carolina quilts in James' collection.

by Jim Rogalski

In 1954 when Supreme Court Justice Hugo L. Black contributed to the court's milestone anti-segregation decision in Brown vs. Board of Education, he usually wrote—his family says—at the end of the day while lying in bed.

To A. Everette James, Jr., MD'63, Black's bed is an important slice of Americana , deserving of preservation. So when he learned in 2000 that it still existed, the ardent art collector bought it and put it in storage for safekeeping.

“I am interested in and appreciate so many aspects of American history and culture. I spend time studying the topic, collect wherever that takes me, and eventually give things away so others can enjoy our unique American story, too,” says James, 68, a former chairman of the Department of Radiology/Radiological Sciences at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, which hosts an annual lecture in his honor.

While a former justice's bunk might not seem artsy to some, this one certainly warrants a place in a museum, James says. He collects mainly 19 th - and early 20 th -century Southern American paintings and has taken various slants within that collection.

“For example,” he says “there were a number of wonderful African American painters as well as women artists and very few of them got any recognition, so I have had the opportunity to feature lesser known but talented groups of artists.”

To show his appreciation for the historical and preservation efforts of James and his wife Nancy Farmer, North Carolina Governor Mike Easley awarded the couple the prestigious Order of the Long Leaf Pine—the state's highest civilian service honor—in 2005. Past recipients include Maya Angelou and Billy Graham.

He has donated hundreds of valuable paintings to entities such as Duke Hospital, The John Hope Franklin Center at Duke, the Center for the Study of the American South at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, The Cosmos Club in Washington , D.C., as well as numerous hospitals, government buildings, and private colleges across North Carolina . One of his art collections is currently on loan to the National Civil Rights Institute in Birmingham , Alabama. These 30 or so paintings have the provocative theme of “Portrayal of Blacks in Southern Art 1840-1940.

His more “formal” art collections, however, focus mainly on North Carolina history, and include pottery, quilts, folk art furniture, antique duck decoys, and paintings by African American artists.

James collects mainly 19 th - and early 20 th -Century Southern American paintings and has “always been interested in (African American art) as a subset of that,” he says. Twenty-eight paintings in his collection titled “The Portrayal of African Americans in Southern Art” currently are on loan to the National Civil Rights Institute in Birmingham, Ala.

“A lot of them are depictions of activities with some sort of relevance or meaning to the South,” he says, “paintings of things like tobacco sales and farm scenes—not necessarily historical for North Carolina but certainly characteristic of it.”

James has authored many books about art, including Collecting American Paintings and the North Carolina Art Pottery, plus ongoing articles for antique-related newspapers and magazines on Southern folk art, decoys, and quilts.

Driving his van and accompanied by his Labrador retriever named Grady White James, he knocked on doors across the state and collected at least one quilt from every county to document North Carolina 's strong quilting tradition. He has donated this collection to the Gallery of Art and design at North Carolina State University.

A separate collection of some 60 quilts made by African American North Carolinians was donated to the North Carolina Museum of History.

In 1990 James purchased the decaying former Robersonville , N.C. Primitive Baptist Church attended by his grandmother and three great aunts. He restored it and turned it into the St. James Place Museum, named to honor his mother. The museum—now on the National Register of Historic Properties—houses North Carolina pottery, quilts, farm furniture, and folk art, and is free and open to the public.

He also has given the Nell Graves Cole Pottery Collection to the North Carolina Pottery Center, and duck decoys to the North Carolina Maritime Museum.

To show his appreciation for the historical and preservation efforts of James and his wife Nancy Farmer, North Carolina Governor Mike Easley awarded the couple the prestigious Order of the Long Leaf Pine—the state's highest civilian service honor—in 2005. Past recipients include Maya Angelou and Billy Graham.

“To be honored by your home state is a great honor, and motivation to continue this journey of learning and discovery,” he says. “I enjoyed my 30 years living outside of North Carolina , but coming home and connecting to my state in such a personal way has been a reward unto itself.”

James and his wife live in Chapel Hill.