Interview with Juanita Kidd Stout

2006 (Creation date: 1987-06-16)

Elwood, William A; Kulish, Mykola

Part one. Judge Juanita Kidd Stout remembers hearing Charles Houston speak in 1937 in the Gaines case in Missouri and describes what it was like in the courtroom. She talks about becoming a lawyer, being an African American woman; she declares she never felt discrimination in the field of law. She tells the story of how she came to work for Houston when she was young. Stout recalls what Houston was like, his belief in the Constitution and the rule of law, and his plans for challenges to US law decades into the future. Part two. Judge Stout wants to know why Houston is not well-known, as most lawyers consider him to be one of the best legal minds ever. It is tragic that he is not taught in civil rights courses. Judge Stout declares that people now don't realize the deprivations that African Americans suffered before the civil rights movement. She recalls that everyone was aware then that it was Houston who did all the groundwork for Brown v. Board of Education. Stout discusses how Houston prepared for the case. She also talks about Judge William Henry Hastie and his appointment to the Third Circuit appeals court. Judge Stout's advice to young people: we will always need more lawyers because we always have new laws to handle changes in society. Part three. Judge Stout describes how she became a judge and remembers cases that stood out for her and her career. She declares that law is not passive; it must grow, change and be discarded. Also, many laws have been wrong and unjust. Stout recalls that Houston died at age 54 just before the the Brown decision. At 11:40 to end, footage of Judge Stout in her office, working. Part four. Footage of Stout's office.

Stout, Juanita Kidd, 1919-1998 (Interviewee); Elwood, William A; Kulish, Mykola

African Americans -- Civil rights -- History; African Americans -- Education -- History; Discrimination in education -- Law and legislation -- United States; School integration -- United States -- History; Segregation in education -- United States -- History

William A. Elwood Civil Rights Lawyers Project

Robertson Media Center

English

Road to Brown : the untold story of "the man who killed Jim Crow."; William A. Elwood Civil Rights Lawyers Project

Source footage for the documentary, The road to Brown : the untold story of “the man who killed Jim Crow” (California Newsreel, 1990), about the life of Charles Hamilton Houston, his crusade for civil rights, and the events that led to Brown v. the Board of Education, the 1954 Supreme Court decision that declared the doctrine of separate but equal to be illegal.
Title supplied by cataloger.
Recorded at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Creation/Production Credits
Digitized by: Cincinnati, Ohio : The PPS Group, 2006.