Green Wix Unthank

Green Wix Unthank served as a judge for the Eastern District of Kentucky from 1979 to 2013. Unthank was born on June 14, 1923 in Tway, Kentucky. During World War II, he served in the US Army in the Airborne Infantry. Following the War, he attended law school at the University of Miami. He returned to Kentucky and was elected as a judge for Harlan County Court, serving six years from 1951 to 1957. After leaving office, he then practiced law throughout the Commonwealth until 1966, when he an assistant US attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky. From 1970 to 1980, he served as the Commonwealth's Attorney for the Twenty-Sixth Judicial District. In 1979, President Jimmy Carter nominated Unthank to serve as a judge for the Eastern District Court, to a seat newly authorized by 92 Stat. 1629. The Senate confirmed his nomination on June 18, 1980. Eight years later, Unthank assumed senior status and remained in that capacity until his death on June 25, 2013.

For more information related to Judge Unthank, see the exhibit The Scotia Mine Disaster.