- Date:
- 2006
- Main contributors:
- Elwood, William A
- Summary:
- Part one. Civil rights attorney Herbert Reid recalls his childhood in Wilson, North Carolina, and his family. He remembers hearing Charles Houston speak at his high school. His parents were involved in the formation of an NAACP chapter in Wilson, and Walter White stayed at his house when he was a little boy. He mentions Roscoe Pound's influence on Houston, but he asserts that Houston formed his own ideas of the function of the law and the social order. At Howard Law School, students and faculty called these ideas the Houstonian school of jurisprudence. Part two. Mr. Reid arrived at Howard Law School in 1947, when the whole school was immersed in preparing civil rights cases. He says that the early planning and pleadings in the Brown v. Board of Education cases involved work by both students and faculty. Mr. Reid worked on Bolling v. Sharpe with James Nabrit. He also worked on covenant cases. Mr. Reid discusses his work on Hobson v. Hansen concerning equal facilities and disparate treatment in 1967. He also mentions Powell v. McCormack. Part three. Mr. Reid talks about his student Governor Douglas Wilder and his client Mayor Marion Barry. He talks about his involvement with the Consolidated Parents Group in DC. Mr. Reid believes that enforcing equal rights helps our democracy become accepted overseas. He also states that the effects of deprivation during the separate but equal era continue to plague the African American community.
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- Date:
- 2006
- Main contributors:
- Elwood, William A
- Summary:
- Part one. Civil rights attorney Samuel Wilbert Tucker recalls the Negro national anthem, “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” and the song, “We Fought Every Race’s Battle But Our Own.” Poor picture quality begins 4:00. Tucker talks about attending a meeting of civil rights attorneys from across the country in Atlanta, Georgia right after the Brown v. Board of Education decision. Tucker recounts becoming a lawyer and why he chose that profession. He never went to law school but passed the bar at age 20. Part two. Tucker discusses his first cases, particularly a murder case. He then goes into detail about his pivotal involvement in the 1939 Alexandria Library Sit-In and its outcome. Part three. Mr. Tucker's brother, Otto, joins the interview. They talk about the library sit-in and the consequent court cases. Part four. Samuel Tucker recalls Charles Houston counseling him about the library sit-in case. Mr. Tucker also imparts advice to young law students. Part five. Tucker argues that the Brown v. Board of Education decision didn't mandate immediate desegregation, so it took years of court cases make it happen slowly. He also discusses civil rights in 1985. At 7:00 there is footage of brothers Samuel and Otto Wilbert visiting the Alexandria Library. At 9:50, interview with William Evans begins. There is no sound until 11:54. Evans discusses his participation in the 1939 Alexandria Library Sit-In.
- Date:
- 2006
- Main contributors:
- Elwood, William A
- Summary:
- Part one. Former White House executive and civil rights attorney Frederic Morrow contends that World War II triggered increased interest in civil rights among African Americans because they were defending a way of life that they could not enjoy. Mr. Morrow recalls his 1957 trip to Africa with Vice President Richard Nixon; he remembers African nations appointing white ambassadors to the United States because African Americans were discriminated against in the US State Department. Mr. Morrow says that President Eisenhower was a decent man, but his philosophy on race was incorrect. Mr. Morrow reviews his childhood in New Jersey, what it was like in the military during World War II, and his position as the first African American in history to be on the President's staff at the White House. Part two. Mr. Morrow tells how he became the first African American executive in the White House in the 1950s. He had to struggle and jump through many hoops to get a position there. Many top White House staffers said they would walk out if Mr. Morrow served with them. Part three. Mr. Morrow says that the civil rights struggle continues, especially on the economic side and with education. He declares, "We don't need new laws, we don't need new principles, we just have to live by them and do our duty.” Part four. Mr. Morrow recalls knowing Charles Hamilton Houston during the 1930s when he worked with NAACP. He believes that Houston was the foundation of the civil rights struggle. Mr. Morrow recounts his work as an NAACP field reporter. Part five. Mr. Morrow wrote a book called '40 Years a Guinea Pig'. He recalls civil rights supporters being critical of him because they thought he wasn't loudly advocating for civil rights while he worked at the White House. He acknowledges that he was asked to be the head of the Bank of America because their branches were being burned, and they needed an African American face to smooth things over. Mr. Morrow talks about his childhood and his grandfather, who was a slave. Part six. Mr. Morrow tells the remarkable story of how he got into Bowdoin College. He offers a message to young people.
- Date:
- 2006
- Main contributors:
- Elwood, William A, Kulish, Mykola
- Summary:
- Part one. Footage of Monticello exterior. At 6:18, interview with history professor William H. Harbaugh at Monticello. Mr. Harbaugh talks about John W. Davis as the greatest appellate attorney and outlines Davis's career. Harbaugh discusses Davis's most famous cases, including his unsuccessful defense of the separate but equal doctrine in the Brown v. Board of Education cases. Part one. Harbaugh describes the irony of John W. Davis defending the separate but equal doctrine in Brown and explains why Davis took the case as its appellate lawyer. Harbaugh also comments on Thurgood Marshall's opinion of Davis. At 9:20 interview with engineer and business professor Louis T. Rader begins. Mr. Rader talks about his life and career, as well as his support of public education in the promotion of a successful business climate. During Massive Resistance, he protested closing Virginia public schools using the argument that businesses don't want to operate in a community with poor schooling.
- Date:
- 2006
- Main contributors:
- Elwood, William A, Kulish, Mykola
- Summary:
- Florence Bryant advocates the teaching of African American history. She tells about her own life. At 7:49 interview with Mr. Williams begins. Mr. Williams discusses the historical importance of the Charlottesville street on which he stands during the interview. He offers his views on public housing and his promotion of scattered housing for low income families.
- Date:
- 2006
- Main contributors:
- Elwood, William A, Norton, James A. (James Adolphus)
- Summary:
- Part one. Dr. Stephen Wright, former president of Fisk University and prominent educator, is presented by James "Dolph" Norton for the Center for Public Service at the University of Virginia. Dr. Wright delivers remarks concerning historically African American colleges and universities. He covers the emergence and growth of these schools. Part two. Dr. Wright says that the development of African American colleges in America has been influenced by seven events: publication of two Department of the Interior studies, "Negro Education" by Dr. Thomas Jesse Jones in 1917 and "Survey of Negro Colleges and Universities" by Arthur Klein in 1928; accrediting African American institutions in the South in 1930, which enabled African American collegians to enter graduate school programs; the US Supreme Court's Gaines decision of 1938; the Brown v. Board of Education decision of 1954; the Civil Rights Act of 1964; and the Adams v. Richardson case filed in 1970. Part three. Dr. Wright talks about public policy, student enrollment trends, and educational needs. He relates stories of African American educators' struggles for equal salaries in the 1930s in the South. The African American teachers made 50% of what white teachers did, with the same teaching certificate. Part four. Dr. Wright explains the effects of desegregation, especially concerning its impact on the fulfillment of the educational needs of African American students at traditionally African American schools. He addresses the special case of Berea College, which was integrated before Plessy v. Ferguson, and therefore had to be segregated after that court decision. It was reintegrated immediately after the Brown v. Board of Education decision. He talks about the influence of Myles Horton. Dr. Wright also discusses student financial aid programs and Rosenwald schools. Part five. Dr. Wright describes being an expert witness in desegregation cases in the South, especially Bulah v. Gebhart in Delaware, one of the cases combined to become Brown v. Board of Education. He evaluated the schools involved in the case and documented their differences. He also assisted NAACP Legal Defense Fund lawyers during cross examinations, as in the Durham, N.C., city schools case. At 12:45, footage of different camera angles of Dr. Wright with no sound. At 15:33, interview resumes with discussion of higher education. Part six. Dr. Wright advocates for strong general education curricula, especially at the college level. He also describes the functions of boards of education, student assessments, and testing.
- Date:
- 2006
- Main contributors:
- Elwood, William A
- Summary:
- Part one. Civil rights activist Palmer Weber asserts that there were three prongs to the attack on systemic segregation in the South: jobs, education, and suffrage. He speaks of his association with A. Philip Randolph and how Randolph set about conquering segregation in labor. He credits Charles Houston with the strategy of attacking segregation in education, via court cases. Weber talks about his election to the national board of the NAACP. He mentions the work of Mary McCleod Bethune, Ralph Bunche, and Mordecai Johnson. Part two. Mr. Weber discusses lawyer Oliver Hill, writer Nancy Cunard, Jack Graveley of the NAACP, Dr. J.M. Tinsley, and Professor Duncan Clark Hyde. Weber elaborates on his work for the Fair Employment Practices Commission. He credits World War II for advancing the NAACP's attack on the segregation system and swelling its membership. In terms of civil rights progress, the NAACP’s struggle to get the Armed Forces desegregated was as great as Charles Houston’s endeavors in education. He also says that Philip Randolph's accomplishments in labor are as important as Houston's for education; and Martin Luther King Jr. built on the work of all of these men, but transcended them by urging African American clergy to action. Weber also talks about Walter White and his rifts with Paul Robeson and W.E.B. Dubois. Part three. Mr. Weber discusses Walter White and his impact on the civil rights struggle, especially White’s study of lynchings in the South. Other people discussed are Mary McCleod Bethune, Ralph Bunche, Lucy Randolph Mason, Eleanor Roosevelt, Tom Clark, Thurgood Marshall, and Earl Warren.
- Date:
- 2006
- Main contributors:
- Elwood, William A, Higginbotham, A. Leon (Aloyisus Leon), 1928-1998
- Summary:
- Part one. Civil rights attorney and professor Jack Greenberg talks about his involvement with the NAACP civil rights defense fund. He recalls his work on a Japanese citizen relocation rights case. He discusses important cases in civil rights law and his involvement in two of the five cases that constituted Brown v. Board of Education, the Delaware case and the Kansas case. Part two. Mr. Greenberg remarks he does not believe Southern society would be integrated if it had been left up to the states; it would be like South Africa and Apartheid. He mentions major cases litigated in Virginia, including the Davis case, the Prince Edward County case, and the NAACP v. Button case, wherein the Virginia General Assembly tried to put the NAACP out of business by making it illegal for it to function. Civil rights cases were filed purposefully in federal court because federal judges were insulated from state politics somewhat; there wasn't the problem of being reelected. Mr. Greenberg contends that the federal courts made civil rights possible. Part three. Mr. Greenberg recalls that Virginia's attempt to destroy the NAACP was really about a small group of Virginia lawyers, like Spotswood Robinson, Oliver Hill, Samuel Tucker. The NAACP Legal Defense Fund in New York relied on law school academics, legal scholars, and social scientists. Interview ends at 3:30. Footage resumes with Judge A. Leon Higginbotham being interviewed while walking around Columbia University. Mr. Higginbotham talks about Greenberg and Columbia Law School's impact on civil rights struggle
- Date:
- 2006
- Main contributors:
- Elwood, William A, Kulish, Mykola
- Summary:
- Part one. Alice Jackson Stuart recounts her experiences as the first African American student to apply to the University of Virginia. When Donald Gaines Murray applied to University of Maryland School of Law, Ms. Stuart (who already had a bachelor's degree from Virginia Union University in 1933) spoke with family friend and Murray's lawyer Charles Hamilton Houston about helping to advance integration of higher education by provoking a legal case via her application to the University of Virginia graduate school of education. Part two. Ms. Stuart recalls different events that occurred during litigation of her case during 1935 and 1936. She explains that when the Virginia General Assembly passed a bill awarding scholarships and living expenses to minority students to attend out-of-state schools, she applied to and then attended Columbia University for her master's degree. She talks about other important Virginians who benefited from the bill, including Spotswood Robinson. She also discusses her teaching career. Part three. Ms. Stuart talks about witnessing a lynch mob, which ended in the killing of African American taxi driver Lee Snell, at Bethune-Cookman University where she taught. She also discusses teaching at Howard University, the Richmond public school system, Rutgers University, and Middlesex County College in New Jersey, among other career accomplishments.
- Date:
- 2006
- Main contributors:
- Elwood, William A, Kulish, Mykola
- Summary:
- Part one. Civil rights attorney Donald Watkins talks about Montgomery’s challenges, like the Confederate Flag flying on the Alabama Capitol. He also covers George Wallace, the continuing fight for civil rights, the teacher accreditation exam case, and achieving parity in society via the law. He remembers an African American custodian at the University of Alabama law school, Remus Rhodes, who taught the first African American students there how to use the library and how to form study groups. Part two. Watkins continues discussing Remus Rhodes, the custodian who became mentor to the first African American students at University of Alabama law school, as well as civil rights law history. At 11:30 minutes, footage of rural road and neighborhood.