Roy Winfield Harper
Appointed by President Harry S Truman, Roy Winfield Harper was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. He earned a law degree from University of Missouri School of Law in 1929. He previously served on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Lived
- 1905–1994
- Appointed by
- Harry S Truman
- Confirmed
- No recorded vote
- Chief judge
- Eastern District of Missouri, 1959 to 1971
- Education
- University of Missouri 1929 · University of Missouri Law 1929
- Succeeded
- John Caskie Collet
- Succeeded by
- Harris Kenneth Wangelin
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1947 | Eastern District of Missouri succeeded John Caskie Collet | Truman (D) | – |
| 1947 | Western District of Missouri succeeded John Caskie Collet | Truman (D) | – |
| – | Eastern District of Missouri succeeded Roy Winfield Harper | Truman (D) | – |
| – | Western District of Missouri succeeded Roy Winfield Harper | Truman (D) | – |
| 1949 | Eastern District of Missouri succeeded Roy Winfield Harper chief judge 1959 to 1971 | Truman (D) | Voice vote |
| 1949 | Western District of Missouri succeeded Roy Winfield Harper | Truman (D) | Voice vote |
Party letters show the appointing president’s party, not the judge’s own. A voice vote means the chamber approved aloud. No senator-by-senator tally is recorded.
Confirmation vote
Voice vote
The Senate approved this confirmation aloud, with no senator-by-senator tally recorded. Recorded roll-call votes begin in 1989.
Education
| University of Missouri | A.B. | 1929 |
| University of Missouri School of Law | LL.B. | 1929 |
Before the bench
Professional career before and outside the federal bench, as recorded by the Federal Judicial Center.
| Attorney, Real Estate Appraisal Division, Shell Oil Company | 1929-1931 |
| Private practice, Steele, Missouri | 1931-1934 |
| Private practice, Caruthersville, Missouri | 1934-1947 |
| U.S. Army major, Air Corps | 1942-1945 |
| Member, Judicial Conference of the United States | 1965-1971 |
| Member, U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation | 1977-1983 |
Judicial Record
In our data, Harper authored 109 published opinions for the court (1951–1991). Most cited: Bremer v. St. Louis Southwestern Railroad Company (38 citations).
A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included. Counts and rankings are objective and recomputable: how we count. We describe the record, not the judge.
Recent & notable rulings
| Year | Case | Citation | Cited |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1969 | Bremer v. St. Louis Southwestern Railroad Company | 310 F. Supp. 1333 | 38 |
| 1983 | Brookfield Production Credit Ass'n v. Borron | 36 B.R. 445 | 37 |
| 1969 | Koen v. Long | 302 F. Supp. 1383 | 36 |
| 1975 | Russell v. SECRETARY, DEPT. OF HEALTH, ED. & WELF. | 402 F. Supp. 613 | 24 |
| 1969 | Cassidy v. United States | 304 F. Supp. 864 | 24 |
| 1963 | In Re Schindler | 223 F. Supp. 512 | 22 |
| 1988 | CH v. American Red Cross | 684 F. Supp. 1018 | 21 |
| 1973 | Boll v. Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis | 365 F. Supp. 637 | 21 |
| 1968 | United States v. Thomas | 299 F. Supp. 494 | 20 |
| 1976 | Seven-Up Bottling Co. v. Seven-Up Co. | 420 F. Supp. 1246 | 18 |
| 1974 | Olson v. REMBRANDT PRINTING COMPANY | 375 F. Supp. 413 | 17 |
| 1970 | Belk v. Chancellor of Washington University | 336 F. Supp. 45 | 17 |
| 1984 | PEERLESS INDUSTRIES v. Herrin Illinois Cafe, Inc. | 593 F. Supp. 1339 | 16 |
| 1976 | Central Bank of Clayton v. Clayton Bank | 424 F. Supp. 163 | 16 |
| 1974 | Harris v. Sherwood Medical Industries, Inc. | 386 F. Supp. 1149 | 16 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 109 authored opinions in our data. “Cited” is inbound citations across the CourtListener corpus. Case links open the ruling’s full text (CourtListener) or its page here; read the methodology and verify against the primary source.
Questions & answers
- Who appointed Roy Winfield Harper?
- President Harry S Truman appointed Roy Winfield Harper to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri.
- Was Roy Winfield Harper appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- Roy Winfield Harper was appointed by President Harry S Truman, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- Which court was Roy Winfield Harper on?
- Roy Winfield Harper was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri.
Sources
Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.
- FJC Biographical Directory
- Wikidata
- Portrait: Rah030261 (Public domain), via Wikimedia Commons
- CourtListener bulk data (Free Law Project): authored opinions & citation counts
How we source & reconcile data → Data & Sources
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Data as of 2026-09-28. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).