THE NEWS HERALD • www.morganton .com
A4
+ FRIDAY, JULY 2;>, 2014
Exhibit recalls ErVin's role in Watergate case
Contributed
RALEIGH - This year is the
40th anniversary of President
Richard M. Nixon's resignation
and the N.C. Museum of History
in Raleigh will present the program "Sam Ervin and Watergate:
40 Years Later." • ·
Hear about the senator's time
as chair of the Senate Watergate
· Committee from those who remember this distinguished North
Carolinian the best.
·
A panel discussion at 2 p.m.
Aug. 9 will be followed by a question-and-answer session. Admission is free.
Ervin's grandson, N.C. Court of
Appeals Judge Sam J. Ervin IV; will
participate in the discussion about
his grandfather's role in the committee that investigated Nixon's
1972 campaign for re-election.
Evidence presented during the
Senate Watergate Committee
hearings, House Judiciary Committee impeachment hearings,
and a criminal investigation led
to the president's resignation
and the indictment of 40 Nixon
campaign and administration officials.
The elder Ervin, whose hometown was Morganton, served 20
years in the U.S. Senate. He retired
in December 1974, four months
Will moderate the Aug. 9 panel
discussion. He is an associate
professor of history at Appalachian State University.
Americans became enamore~
by Ervin's Southern charm and
. ready wit during the televised
Watergate hearings. Although Ervin referred to himself as an "old
country lawyer," his sharp intelligence and Harvard. Law School
training revealed his legal expertise.
Ervin's clear sense of moral outrage at the scandal's revelations
struck a chord with many citizens.
"Watergate: Political Scandal
and the Presidency" will remain
open through Aug. 10he exhibi1
tells the story of the Watergatf
scandal in a straightforward, en
_.
.
•
COURTESY OFSEI'lATOR SAM J. ~RVJN)R.liBRAR:XAND ~USEUM .~gaging Wa~ ~· ~
North Carolina Sen. Sam Ervrn Jr. (center) consults w1th others durrng a
Artifacts photographs videc
hearin~ of the ~enat~ Watergat~ Com~ittee. Ervi~ se-;ved as chair _of the clips and' a 1970s livi~g-roon
comm1t!ee that rnvest1gated Pres1de~t Richard M. N1xon s 1972 campa1gn for setting intrigue both younge1
re-election.
visitors and those who recall thil
after Nixon's resignation. Sen. Sam lawyer on July 23, 1973, to ob- transformative time in our na·
passed away on April24, 1985.
· tain recordings. ·of Nixon's White tion's histoiy.
Another panelist will be Raleigh .House conversations. He also
Watergate also highlights man)
attorney Rufus Edmisten, who was responsible for interviewing Tar Heels who played importan
served as an aide to Ervin and was severa1J witness~s anq managing roles in investigating the scandal
deputy legal ·counsel to the sena- many logistical decisions related
For information about theN.
tor during his chairmanship of to the hearings.
Museum of History, a Smithson
the Senate Watergate Committee.
Karl Camp hell, author of "Sena- ian-affiliated museum, call 919
Edmisten delivered the sub poe- tor Sam Ervin, Last of the Found- ·807 -7900 or access www.ncmt
nas served to President Nixon's ing Fathers" (UNC Press, 2007) , seumofhistory.org.