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This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2026-04-14. Description is written in: Undetermined, Code for undetermined script script. Finding aid based on DACS (Describing Archives: A Content Standard), 2nd Edition. Special Collections, University of Washington Libraries Michael Fox papers Fox, Michael J. (Michael James), 1944- 5926 2.28 cubic feet 2 boxes 1961-1997 1971-1974 Records relating to a United Farmworkers of Washington lawyer Collection materials are in English.

Judge Michael James Fox was born in New London, Connecticut in 1944. During the 1960s, he became politically active in the Civil Rights Movement. While attending law school in Georgia, Fox was part of the Legal Aid Society—an organization that provided legal services to people from low-income backgrounds. After law school, his experience with the Legal Aid Society greatly influenced his decision to continue to help underrepresented people. Having also acquired Spanish speaking skills, Fox became interested in working with the large population of Spansih-speaking Latino/a farmworkers. In 1965, the US Congress created the Office of Economic Opportunity which funded the Legal Services Program, a private non-profit corporation providing legal services to people living in poverty. In that same year, a strike of Filipino American grape pickers in Delano, California gained the cooperation of Cesar Chavez and others, who began organizing migrant agricultural workers in California. Using the same organizing model, workers in Washington State organized an independent branch of the United Farm Workers of Washington State in 1967. In 1969, Fox moved to Washington through the Reginald Heber Smith Fellowship, a program that places lawyers in areas to help those who do not have access to legal aid, and discovered that the state had the fourth largest migrant farmworker population in the country. In the following year, the wildcat hop strikes began in the Yakima Valley. Fox connected with the organizers of the hop strikes, Tomás Villanueva and Lupe Gamboa, and offered to provide legal representation to the emerging farmworkers union. As the UFW lawyer, Fox in Garza v. Patnode (1971) argued successfully that farmworkers had the right to organize. In that same year, Fox and Lupe Gamboa were arrested and convicted for trespassing onto the Roger's Walla Walla labor camp. Their convictions were eventually overturned and the decision confirmed that tenants in labor camps had the right to meet with union representatives and attorneys. Both cases were instrumental to the early efforts of the union (see State v. Fox, 1973 ). Fox continued to provide legal representation to the UFW until 1988. In that year Fox became a King County Superior Court Judge. On the bench, Fox called attention to the treatment of minorities in the legal system, particularly related to drug sentencing. Fox retired in 2011 after a distinguished judicial career.

Organized into 2 accessions.

Accession No. 5926-001, Michael Fox papers, 1971-1974, 1994 Accession No. 5926-002, Michael J. Fox papers, 1961-1997

This collection traces a series of legal cases arising out of the June 19, 1971 arrest for trespassing of Seattle-King County Legal Services attorney Michael Fox and union organizer Guadalupe Gamboa of the UFW Co-op in Toppenish. Fox and Gamboa visited the Rogers Walla Walla Inc. migrant labor camp following Gamboa's contact with workers there who had grievances regarding their working and living conditions. When they attempted to meet with workers, Rogers employees refused them entry without their naming the individuals they were meeting with and the purpose of their meeting. Fox and Gamboa refused to provide names, reasoning that employees named would be in potential danger of losing their jobs or worse. Rogers representatives called the sheriff who arrested Fox and Gamboa for trespassing and fined them $25 each. Fox and Gamboa appealed their conviction to the Superior Court of the County of Walla Walla, which affirmed the conviction in December 1971. Fox and Gamboa then appealed to the Washington State Supreme Court, which reversed the finding of the Superior Court in May 1973. This established an important precedent for future organizers and attorneys in the state. The State of Washington sought a hearing in the United State Supreme Court, which refused to hear the case. In Fox v. Klundt [Walla Walla County Sheriff] et al , Fox brought a civil suit against representatives of Rogers Walla Walla for damages and received a settlement of $6,000. Records include legal materials and newspaper articles relating to the court cases. Other records relate to the State of Washington State v. Michael Fox, 1973.

No restrictions on access.

Request at UW

Creator's copyrights transferred to the University of Washington Libraries Special Collections.

Michael J. Fox, 2016.

Wikidata is available for this collection

Fox, Michael J. (Michael James), 1944- --Archives Fox, Michael J. (Michael James), 1944- --Trials, litigation, etc Gamboa, Guadalupe Gamboa, Guadalupe--Trials, litigation, etc Labor Archives of Washington (University of Washington), host institution Washington (State)--Trials, litigation, etc Labor Archives of Washington (University of Washington) United Farm Workers Organizing Committee Personal Papers/Corporate Records (University of Washington) Labor unions--Washington (State) Labor--Washington (State) Labor movement--Washington (State) Labor union members--Washington (State) Lawyers--Washington (State)--Archives Labor disputes--Washington (State) Agricultural laborers--Washington (State) Agricultural laborers--Labor unions--Organizing--Washington (State) Agricultural laborers--Labor unions--Washington (State) Migrant agricultural laborers--Washington (State) Migrant agricultural laborers--Labor unions--Organizing--Washington (State) Migrant agricultural laborers--Labor unions--Washington (State) Labor History Labor Unions Civil Rights Latinos and Latinas Agriculture Records (Documents) Personal correspondence Legal instruments Accession No. 5926-001: Michael Fox papers, 1971-1974, 1994 1.14 cubic feet

Scope and Content: This collection traces a series of legal cases arising out of the June 19, 1971 arrest for trespassing of Seattle-King County Legal Services attorney Michael Fox and union organizer Guadalupe Gamboa of the UFW Co-op in Toppenish. Fox and Gamboa visited the Rogers Walla Walla Inc. migrant labor camp following Gamboa's contact with workers there who had grievances regarding their working and living conditions. When they attempted to meet with workers, Rogers employees refused them entry without their naming the individuals they were meeting with and the purpose of their meeting. Fox and Gamboa refused to provide names, reasoning that employees named would be in potential danger of losing their jobs or worse. Rogers representatives called the sheriff who arrested Fox and Gamboa for trespassing and fined them $25 each. Fox and Gamboa appealed their conviction to the Superior Court of the County of Walla Walla, which affirmed the conviction in December 1971. Fox and Gamboa then appealed to the Washington State Supreme Court, which reversed the finding of the Superior Court in May 1973. This established an important precedent for future organizers and attorneys in the state. The State of Washington sought a hearing in the United State Supreme Court, which refused to hear the case. In Fox v. Klundt [Walla Walla County Sheriff] et al, Fox brought a civil suit against representatives of Rogers Walla Walla for damages and received a settlement of $6,000. Records include legal materials and newspapers articles relating to the court cases. Other records relate to the State of Washington v. Michael Fox, 1973.

Restrictions on Access: No restrictions on access.

Restrictions on Use: Creator's copyrights transferred to the University of Washington Libraries Special Collections.

Acquisition Info: Michael J. Fox, 2016

Events of June 1971 1971 5926-001 Box 1 1 Walla Walla County Court 1971-1972 5926-001 Box 1 2 Washington State Superior Court, Walla Walla County 1971-1972 5926-001 Box 1 3 Washington State Superior Court, Walla Walla County 1972 5926-001 Box 1 4 Preparation for State of Washington v. Fox 1972 5926-001 Box 1 5 Washington State Supreme Court, State of Washington v. Fox Appeal--Part 1 of 6 1972 5926-001 Box 1 6 Washington State Supreme Court, State of Washington v. Fox Appeal--Part 2 of 6 1972 5926-001 Box 1 7 Washington State Supreme Court, State of Washington v. Fox Appeal--Part 3 of 6 1972 5926-001 Box 1 8 Washington State Supreme Court, State of Washington v. Fox Appeal--Part 4 of 6 1971-1972 5926-001 Box 1 9 Washington State Supreme Court, State of Washington v. Fox Appeal--Part 5 of 6 1972 5926-001 Box 1 10 Washington State Supreme Court, State of Washington v. Fox Appeal--Part 6 of 6 1972-1973 5926-001 Box 1 11 U.S. District Court, Fox v. Klundt--Part 1 of 2 1971-1972 5926-001 Box 1 12 U.S. District Court, Fox v. Klundt--Part 2 of 2 1971-1974 5926-001 Box 1 13 U.S. Supreme Court--State of Washington v. Fox 1973 5926-001 Box 1 14 Additional Materials Related to Court Cases 1974-1994 5926-001 Box 1 15 Accession No. 5926-002: Michael J. Fox papers, 1961-1997 (bulk 1970s) 1.28 cubic feet 1 box

Scope and Content: This collection is primarily comprised of documents relating to the State of Washington v. Fox court case and appeals process, which spanned from 1971-1974. The case began on June 19th, 1971 when Michael Fox and Guadalupe Gamboa were arrested for trespassing in a migrant workers camp run by the Rogers Walla Walla Company. A transcript from the case relating to the incident is in Box 1, Folder 5. After being found guilty in the District court (Box 1, Folders 10 and 14), Fox and Gamboa took the case through the appeals process where it finally was heard by the Washington State Supreme Court, (Box 1, Folder 21-23). The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Fox and Gamboa and therefore set a legal precedent of the right of lawyers and union organizers to have access to migrant workers on private lands. The collection contains documentation and transcripts from all of the trials as well as the pre-trial correspondence between Fox and various organizations in his effort to secure amicus briefs (Box 1, Folder 13-15). Multiple articles relating to the case have also been placed into this collection (Box 1, Folders 4, 27 and 32). In addition, there are articles about Michael Fox's career as a judge (Box 1, Folder 37, 38), as well as articles that Fox wrote or that he collected (Box 1, Folders 26, 30, 31, 34 and 35).

Restrictions on Access: No restrictions on access.

Restrictions on Use: Creator's copyrights transferred to the University of Washington Libraries Special Collections.

Acquisition Info: Donated by Michael Fox in March 2016.

Photo with law school classmate, December 1997 December 29, 1997 5926-002 Box 1 1 Loomis school Founder's Day program, 1961 October 7, 1961 5926-002 Box 1 2 Oferta de Empleo Rogers Walla Walla May 24, 1905 5926-002 Box 1 3 Newspaper Articles regarding Fox and Gamboa Arrest May 24-25, 1905 5926-002 Box 1 4 Fox Transcript at Migrant Labor Camp June 19, 1971 5926-002 Box 1 5 Fox correspondence with Mr. Hahner September 26-29, 1972 5926-002 Box 1 6 Inspection of Walla Walla Labor Camp June 22, 1971 5926-002 Box 1 7 United States Supreme Court, State of Washington vs Fox and Gamboa writ of certiorari October 1, 1973 5926-002 Box 1 8 State of Washington vs Fox and Gamboa brief of respondent May 26, 1973 5926-002 Box 1 9 United States District Court Fox vs Klundt, Ray, Tone, Lang and Rogers July 1, 1971 5926-002 Box 1 10 Washington State Supreme Court No. 42339 State of Washington vs Fox and Gamboa Appeal July 7, 1972 5926-002 Box 1 11 Superior Court of Washington No. 60010, Washington vs Fox and Gamboa February 28, 1972 5926-002 Box 1 12 Letters to Mario Obledo and Hugh Hafer from Michael Fox August 2-November 30, 1971 5926-002 Box 1 13 Walla Walla DIstrict Justice Court No.37462, Washington vs Gamboa June 19-July 15, 1971 5926-002 Box 1 14 Washington State Supreme Court Pre-trial correspondence September 22, 1971-October 2, 1972 5926-002 Box 1 15 Superior Court of Washington No. 60010, Proposed findings of facts and conclusions January 6, 1972 5926-002 Box 1 16 Pre-Trial Court case filings June 1, 1971-May 1, 1972 5926-002 Box 1 17 Fox vs Klundt Consent Decree and Judgement, with correspondence April 17, 1974-April 1, 1975 5926-002 Box 1 18 Office of Legal Services Amicus Brief, Washington Supreme Court No. 42339 May 26, 1973 5926-002 Box 1 19 National Legal Aid and Defender Association Amicus Brief, Washington Supreme Court May 26, 1973 5926-002 Box 1 20 Superior Court of Washington No. 60010, Statement of Facts [Part 1 of 3] December 9, 1971 5926-002 Box 1 21 Superior Court of Washington No. 60010, Statement of Facts [Part 2 of 3] December 9-10, 1971 5926-002 Box 1 22 Superior Court of Washington No. 60010, Statement of Facts [Part 3 of 3] December 10, 1971 5926-002 Box 1 23 United States Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals No. 83-3608, 84-4148 Laduke vs Nelson March 6, 1985 5926-002 Box 1 24 United States Eastern district of Washington No. C-77-356 LaDuke vs Nelson June 28, 1984 5926-002 Box 1 25 "Planning and Conducting a Coordinated Discovery Program" Washington State Bar News January 1, 1981 5926-002 Box 1 26 Washington vs Fox Case Summary No. 42339 May 1, 1973 5926-002 Box 1 27 United States Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals No. 83-3870 Ingram v Fentron Building Products April April 1984 5926-002 Box 1 28 Garza v Patnode No. 25255 Facts and Judgements May 5, 1971 5926-002 Box 1 29 "Call me Juror" New York Times Article January 10, 1992 5926-002 Box 1 30 "My World with Louis Armstrong" by Charles L. Black Jr June 1, 1905 5926-002 Box 1 31 Court Review Volume 31 Number 3 Fall 1994 June 16, 1905 5926-002 Box 1 32 Letter from Bernard Lang to Governor Gardner about Michael Fox January 8, 1988 5926-002 Box 1 33 Avalon Project, George Washington Farewell Address 1796 November 27, 2000 5926-002 Box 1 34 Yale Alumni Article, Dave Henderson March 1, 1991 5926-002 Box 1 35 Newspaper Articles About Lupe Gamboa November 10, 1968-March 1, 1994 5926-002 Box 1 36 Bar Bulletin Articles November 1, 1991-January 1, 1992 5926-002 Box 1 37 Washington Journal Judicial Profile of Michael Fox October 24, 1994 5926-002 Box 1 38