Triumphant the Journey - Harvard Law...
Transcript of Triumphant the Journey - Harvard Law...
September 16−18, 2016
Triumphant the Journey
Celebrating the Stories of Black Alumni
The Firsts
Class of 1869 Class of 1956
George L. Ruffin Lila Fenwick
The Royall Family
In 1778, Isaac Royall, Jr. bequeathed hundreds of acres of land
in central Massachusetts to the Harvard College for the
endowment of a Professorship of Laws or Medicine. Royall’s
land in Massachusetts was purchased in large part by the
proceeds of the sale of his plantations and slaves on Antigua
when his family moved to Massachusetts in the aftermath of a
slave revolt on Antigua.
U.S. Constitution – Signed September 17, 1787
Harvard Law School Founded in 1817
The Harvard Law School was founded in 1817, and it is the
oldest continually operating law school in the United States.
The Catalogue of the Officers and Students
of Harvard University, October 1817.
Dane Hall – Home to the Law School from 1832 to 1882
Scott v. Sandford, 60 U.S. 393 (1856)
The Emancipation Proclamation and the
Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
January 1, 1863 December 18, 1865
July 9, 1868 − The Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
George L. Ruffin, Class of 1869
The First African American to Graduate from the Harvard Law School
February 3, 1870 − The Fifteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
The Fifteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
Archibald H. Grimke − Class of 1874
In 1874, Archibald H. Grimke became the second African American
to graduate from the Harvard Law School.
Clement Garnett Morgan − Class of 1893
In 1893, Clement Garnett Morgan became the first African American to
graduate from both Harvard College and the Harvard Law School.
Harvard Law School Class of 1895
William H. Lewis graduated from the Harvard Law School
as part of the Class of 1895.
William H. Lewis (1895)
Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537 (1896)
Justice Henry Billings Brown
Author of the Majority Opinion
Justice John Marshall Harlan
Author of the Dissenting Opinion
William H. Lewis, Sr. (L.L.B. 1895)
In 1911, William H. Lewis, Sr. was appointed Assistant Attorney
General of the United States by President William H. Taft.
Charles Hamilton Houston (L.L.B., S.J.D. 1923)
Langdell Hall − 1931
1936 − Royall Family Coat of Arms Adopted
In 1936, the Royall Family coat of arms was adopted as the seal for
Harvard Law School by Pierre de Chaignon la Rose, an alumnus
and former English professor of Harvard University.
1940 − LDF Founded
William T. Coleman (J.D. 1943(1946))
In 1946, William T. Coleman graduated No. 1 in his class at
Harvard Law School and became the first black U.S. Supreme Court
law clerk.
William H. Hastie, Jr.
In 1949, William H. Hastie, Jr. received a recess appointment to the U.S. Court
of Appeals for the Third Circuit from President Harry S. Truman. Hastie was
later confirmed by the U.S. Senate in 1950, becoming the first African American
appellate judge.
1950s
Brown v. Board of Education (1954)
Brown v. Board of Education (1954)
“We conclude that in the field of public education the doctrine of ’separate but equal’ has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.”
Lila Fenwick, Class of 1956
The First African American Woman to Graduate from the Harvard Law School
1960s
1960s
Civil Rights Act of 1964
Voting Rights Act of 1965
Selma
1965
2015
BLSA Founded in 1967
1970s
Professor Derrick Bell
In 1971, Derrick A. Bell, Jr. became the first
tenured Black Professor of Law at Harvard Law
School.
Professor Derrick Bell