Oliver Hill
Encyclopedia
Oliver White Hill, Sr. was a civil rights
attorney
from Richmond, Virginia
. His work against racial discrimination helped end the doctrine of "separate but equal
." He also helped win landmark legal decisions involving equality in pay for black teachers, access to school buses, voting rights, jury selection, and employment protection. He retired in 1998 after practicing law for almost 60 years. Among his numerous awards is the Presidential Medal of Freedom
, awarded by President
Bill Clinton
in 1999.
in 1907. His parents separated while he was still a baby, and he took on his stepfather's last name. The Hill family moved to Roanoke
and then to Washington, D.C.
, where he graduated from Dunbar High School
.
Oliver White Hill earned his undergraduate degree from Howard University
and entered Howard University School of Law
in 1930. He studied under the tutelage of Charles Hamilton Houston
, the chief architect in challenging Jim Crow laws
through legal means. In law school, Hill was a classmate and close friend of future Supreme Court
Associate Justice Thurgood Marshall
. He graduated second in his class after Marshall in 1933.
, and Leon A. Ranson, Hill won his first civil rights case. The decision in Alston v. School Board of Norfolk, Va., gained pay equity for black teachers. In 1943, Hill joined the United States Army
, and served in the European Theatre of World War II
.
Returning to his law practice at the end of World War II
, he won the right for equal transportation for school children in the Virginia Supreme Court. In 1949, he became the first African American on the City Council of Richmond since Reconstruction in the late 19th century.
In the early 1950s, Hill was co-counsel with Spottswood W. Robinson III
in dozens of civil rights lawsuits around Virginia. In 1951, he took up the cause of the African American
students at the segregated
R.R. Moton High School in Farmville
who had walked out of their dilapidated school. The subsequent lawsuit, Davis v. County School Board of Prince Edward County
later became one of the five cases decided under Brown v. Board of Education
before the Supreme Court of the United States
in 1954.
During the 1940s and 1950s, the safety of Hill's life and family were threatened by his work. Due to the barrage of telephoned threats, Hill's young son was not allowed to answer the telephone, and at one point a cross was burned
on the Hills' lawn. However, Hill and his clients continued to wage legal battles. After Brown decision, Virginia under the Byrd Organization
followed a policy known as massive resistance
to avoid desegregation, enacting a legislative package known as the Stanley plan
which included tuition grant support of segregation academies
set up to avoid the extant public schools. In 1959, after public schools had been closed in several localities, notably Prince Edward Public Schools, Norfolk Public Schools and Warren County Public Schools, the Virginia Supreme Court finally ruled Virginia's law prohibiting integrated public schools was unconstitutional. Following that ruling, "Massive Resistance" as an official state policy was abruptly dropped by Virginia Governor James Lindsay Almond, Jr.
and the schools in Farmville, Norfolk, and Front Royal were reopened.
However, it was to be more than ten more years before many school districts in Virginia were significantly integrated, following the U.S. Supreme Court decision against freedom of choice
plans in the Green v. School Board of New Kent County case of 1968, in which his law partner Samuel W. Tucker
was lead counsel, supported by a young lawyer Hill had recruited, Henry L. Marsh, III
.
He was long a partner in the Hill, Tucker and Marsh law firm in Richmond and continued civil rights litigation until he retired in 1998.
, the 1980 William Robert Ming Advocacy Award from the NAACP, the Equal Justice Award from the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund
in 1986 and the American Bar Association
Justice Thurgood Marshall Award in 1993. President of the United States
Bill Clinton
awarded Hill the Presidential Medal of Freedom
in 1999. Students at the University of Virginia
also honored Hill when they founded the Oliver W. Hill Black Pre-Law Association.
In 2000, he received the American Bar Association Medal, and the National Bar Association Hero of the Law award. In September 2000, he and other NAACP Legal Defense Fund lawyers were honored with the Harvard Medal of Freedom for their role in the landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision. In 2005 he was awarded the Spingarn Medal
, the NAACP's highest honor. He's also a renowned member of Omega Psi Phi
fraternity.
In Richmond, a bronze bust of him is visible at the Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia. The city's Oliver Hill Courts Building was named for him.
In October 2005, Virginia Governor Mark R. Warner dedicated a newly renovated building in Virginia's Capitol Square
in his honor. The Oliver W. Hill Building is the first state-owned building as well as the first in Virginia's Capitol Square to be named for an African American. "Oliver W. Hill has worked tirelessly to end the injustice of segregation
, and today we honor his lifetime of contributions to our commonwealth and our nation" said Governor Warner. "It's my hope that the generations of Virginians and Americans who come after us and visit
this Square will think that the history we reflect in our monuments is
as rich and diverse as our people, and that the heroes that this
generation has chosen to honor bring new and vital lessons."
Also in Capitol Square, a Civil Rights Memorial
was commissioned and dedicated in July 2008. The memorial, which includes an imnage of Hill, honors the roles Virginians have played in the nation's struggle for civil rights for all.
Oliver Hill's autobiography
: The Big Bang: Brown v. Board of Education, The Autobiography of Oliver W. Hill, Sr. edited by Professor Jonathan K. Stubbs, was published in 2000 and reprinted in 2007.
On Sunday, August 5, 2007, Oliver Hill died peacefully during breakfast at his home in Richmond, Virginia of natural causes at the age of 100 years old. Later that day, Virginia Governor Tim Kaine
issued a statement, saying:
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
attorney
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
from Richmond, Virginia
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
. His work against racial discrimination helped end the doctrine of "separate but equal
Separate but equal
Separate but equal was a legal doctrine in United States constitutional law that justified systems of segregation. Under this doctrine, services, facilities and public accommodations were allowed to be separated by race, on the condition that the quality of each group's public facilities was to...
." He also helped win landmark legal decisions involving equality in pay for black teachers, access to school buses, voting rights, jury selection, and employment protection. He retired in 1998 after practicing law for almost 60 years. Among his numerous awards is the Presidential Medal of Freedom
Presidential Medal of Freedom
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is an award bestowed by the President of the United States and is—along with thecomparable Congressional Gold Medal bestowed by an act of U.S. Congress—the highest civilian award in the United States...
, awarded by President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
in 1999.
Childhood, education
Hill was born as Oliver White in Richmond, VirginiaRichmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
in 1907. His parents separated while he was still a baby, and he took on his stepfather's last name. The Hill family moved to Roanoke
Roanoke, Virginia
Roanoke is an independent city in the Mid-Atlantic U.S. state of Virginia and is the tenth-largest city in the Commonwealth. It is located in the Roanoke Valley of the Roanoke Region of Virginia. The population within the city limits was 97,032 as of 2010...
and then to Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, where he graduated from Dunbar High School
Dunbar High School (Washington, D.C.)
Dunbar High School is a public secondary school located in Washington, D.C., United States. The school is located in the Truxton Circle neighborhood of Northwest Washington, two blocks from the intersection of New Jersey and New York Avenues...
.
Oliver White Hill earned his undergraduate degree from Howard University
Howard University
Howard University is a federally chartered, non-profit, private, coeducational, nonsectarian, historically black university located in Washington, D.C., United States...
and entered Howard University School of Law
Howard University School of Law
Howard University School of Law is one of the professional graduate schools of Howard University. Located in Washington, D.C., it is one the oldest law schools in the country and the oldest historically black college or university law school in the United States...
in 1930. He studied under the tutelage of Charles Hamilton Houston
Charles Hamilton Houston
Charles Hamilton Houston was an African American lawyer, Dean of Howard University Law School and NAACP Litigation Director who played a significant role in dismantling the Jim Crow laws and trained future Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall.Houston was born in Washington, D.C. His father...
, the chief architect in challenging Jim Crow laws
Jim Crow laws
The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws in the United States enacted between 1876 and 1965. They mandated de jure racial segregation in all public facilities, with a supposedly "separate but equal" status for black Americans...
through legal means. In law school, Hill was a classmate and close friend of future Supreme Court
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
Associate Justice Thurgood Marshall
Thurgood Marshall
Thurgood Marshall was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, serving from October 1967 until October 1991...
. He graduated second in his class after Marshall in 1933.
Career
Hill began practicing law in Richmond in 1939. In 1940, working with fellow attorneys Thurgood Marshall, William H. HastieWilliam H. Hastie
William Henry Hastie, Jr. was an American, lawyer, judge, educator, public official, and advocate for the civil rights of African Americans...
, and Leon A. Ranson, Hill won his first civil rights case. The decision in Alston v. School Board of Norfolk, Va., gained pay equity for black teachers. In 1943, Hill joined the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
, and served in the European Theatre of World War II
European Theatre of World War II
The European Theatre of World War II was a huge area of heavy fighting across Europe from Germany's invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939 until the end of the war with the German unconditional surrender on May 8, 1945...
.
Returning to his law practice at the end of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, he won the right for equal transportation for school children in the Virginia Supreme Court. In 1949, he became the first African American on the City Council of Richmond since Reconstruction in the late 19th century.
In the early 1950s, Hill was co-counsel with Spottswood W. Robinson III
Spottswood William Robinson III
Spottswood William Robinson III was an educator, civil rights attorney and judge.In the early 1950s, Robinson and his law-partner Oliver Hill litigated several civil rights lawsuits in Virginia. In 1951, Robinson and Hill took up the cause of the African American students at the segregated R.R...
in dozens of civil rights lawsuits around Virginia. In 1951, he took up the cause of the African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
students at the segregated
Racial segregation
Racial segregation is the separation of humans into racial groups in daily life. It may apply to activities such as eating in a restaurant, drinking from a water fountain, using a public toilet, attending school, going to the movies, or in the rental or purchase of a home...
R.R. Moton High School in Farmville
Farmville, Virginia
Farmville is a town in Prince Edward and Cumberland counties in the U.S. state of Virginia. The population was 6,845 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Prince Edward County....
who had walked out of their dilapidated school. The subsequent lawsuit, Davis v. County School Board of Prince Edward County
Davis v. County School Board of Prince Edward County
Davis v. County School Board of Prince Edward County was one of the five cases combined into Brown v. Board of Education, the famous case in which the U.S. Supreme Court, in 1954, officially overturned racial segregation in U.S. public schools...
later became one of the five cases decided under Brown v. Board of Education
Brown v. Board of Education
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483 , was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court that declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students unconstitutional. The decision overturned the Plessy v. Ferguson decision of 1896 which...
before the Supreme Court of the United States
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
in 1954.
During the 1940s and 1950s, the safety of Hill's life and family were threatened by his work. Due to the barrage of telephoned threats, Hill's young son was not allowed to answer the telephone, and at one point a cross was burned
Cross burning
Cross burning or cross lighting is a practice widely associated with the Ku Klux Klan, although the historical practice long predates the Klan's inception...
on the Hills' lawn. However, Hill and his clients continued to wage legal battles. After Brown decision, Virginia under the Byrd Organization
Byrd Organization
The Byrd Organization was a political machine led by former Governor and U.S. Senator Harry F. Byrd, Sr. that dominated Virginia politics for much of the middle portion of the 20th century...
followed a policy known as massive resistance
Massive resistance
Massive resistance was a policy declared by U.S. Senator Harry F. Byrd, Sr. on February 24, 1956, to unite other white politicians and leaders in Virginia in a campaign of new state laws and policies to prevent public school desegregation after the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision...
to avoid desegregation, enacting a legislative package known as the Stanley plan
Stanley plan
The Stanley plan was a package of 13 statutes adopted in September 1956 by the U.S. state of Virginia designed to ensure racial segregation in that state's public schools despite the ruling of the Supreme Court of the United States in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, 347 U.S. 483 ....
which included tuition grant support of segregation academies
Segregation academies
Segregation academies are private schools started in the United States during the 1950s, '60s, and 70s as a way for white parents to avoid the desegregation of public schools as a result of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling Brown v...
set up to avoid the extant public schools. In 1959, after public schools had been closed in several localities, notably Prince Edward Public Schools, Norfolk Public Schools and Warren County Public Schools, the Virginia Supreme Court finally ruled Virginia's law prohibiting integrated public schools was unconstitutional. Following that ruling, "Massive Resistance" as an official state policy was abruptly dropped by Virginia Governor James Lindsay Almond, Jr.
James Lindsay Almond, Jr.
James Lindsay Almond, Jr. was a United States federal judge and politician. He served as the 58th Governor of Virginia from 1958 until 1962.-Early life:...
and the schools in Farmville, Norfolk, and Front Royal were reopened.
However, it was to be more than ten more years before many school districts in Virginia were significantly integrated, following the U.S. Supreme Court decision against freedom of choice
Freedom of Choice (US school desegregation)
Freedom of Choice was the name for a number of plans developed in the US during 1965-70, aimed at the integration of schools in states that had a segregated educational system.- The Plans :...
plans in the Green v. School Board of New Kent County case of 1968, in which his law partner Samuel W. Tucker
Samuel Wilbert Tucker
Samuel Wilbert Tucker was an American lawyer and a cooperating attorney with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People . As a founding partner in the Richmond, Virginia firm of Hill, Tucker and Marsh, he is best remembered for one of his several civil rights cases before the...
was lead counsel, supported by a young lawyer Hill had recruited, Henry L. Marsh, III
Henry L. Marsh
Henry L. Marsh III is an American civil rights lawyer and politician. A Democrat, in 1977 Marsh was elected by the city council as the first African-American mayor of Richmond. He was elected to the Senate of Virginia in 1991, and has been re-elected...
.
He was long a partner in the Hill, Tucker and Marsh law firm in Richmond and continued civil rights litigation until he retired in 1998.
Awards and honors
Hill's accomplishments have earned many awards and citations including the 1959 Lawyer of the Year Award from the National Bar AssociationNational Bar Association
The National Bar Association was established in 1925 as the "Negro Bar Association" after Gertrude Rush, George H. Woodson, S. Joe Brown, James B. Morris, and Charles P. Howard, Sr. were denied membership in the American Bar Association. It represents the interests of African-American attorneys in...
, the 1980 William Robert Ming Advocacy Award from the NAACP, the Equal Justice Award from the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund
NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund
The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. is a leading United States civil rights organization and law firm based in New York City....
in 1986 and the American Bar Association
American Bar Association
The American Bar Association , founded August 21, 1878, is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. The ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of academic standards for law schools, and the formulation...
Justice Thurgood Marshall Award in 1993. President of the United States
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
awarded Hill the Presidential Medal of Freedom
Presidential Medal of Freedom
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is an award bestowed by the President of the United States and is—along with thecomparable Congressional Gold Medal bestowed by an act of U.S. Congress—the highest civilian award in the United States...
in 1999. Students at the University of Virginia
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...
also honored Hill when they founded the Oliver W. Hill Black Pre-Law Association.
In 2000, he received the American Bar Association Medal, and the National Bar Association Hero of the Law award. In September 2000, he and other NAACP Legal Defense Fund lawyers were honored with the Harvard Medal of Freedom for their role in the landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision. In 2005 he was awarded the Spingarn Medal
Spingarn Medal
The Spingarn Medal is awarded annually by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People for outstanding achievement by an African American....
, the NAACP's highest honor. He's also a renowned member of Omega Psi Phi
Omega Psi Phi
Omega Psi Phi is a fraternity and is the first African-American national fraternal organization to be founded at a historically black college. Omega Psi Phi was founded on November 17, 1911, at Howard University in Washington, D.C.. The founders were three Howard University juniors, Edgar Amos...
fraternity.
In Richmond, a bronze bust of him is visible at the Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia. The city's Oliver Hill Courts Building was named for him.
In October 2005, Virginia Governor Mark R. Warner dedicated a newly renovated building in Virginia's Capitol Square
Virginia State Capitol
The Virginia State Capitol is the seat of state government in the Commonwealth of Virginia, located in Richmond, the third capital of Virginia. It houses the oldest legislative body in the United States, the Virginia General Assembly...
in his honor. The Oliver W. Hill Building is the first state-owned building as well as the first in Virginia's Capitol Square to be named for an African American. "Oliver W. Hill has worked tirelessly to end the injustice of segregation
Racial segregation
Racial segregation is the separation of humans into racial groups in daily life. It may apply to activities such as eating in a restaurant, drinking from a water fountain, using a public toilet, attending school, going to the movies, or in the rental or purchase of a home...
, and today we honor his lifetime of contributions to our commonwealth and our nation" said Governor Warner. "It's my hope that the generations of Virginians and Americans who come after us and visit
this Square will think that the history we reflect in our monuments is
as rich and diverse as our people, and that the heroes that this
generation has chosen to honor bring new and vital lessons."
Also in Capitol Square, a Civil Rights Memorial
Virginia Civil Rights Memorial
The Virginia Civil Rights Memorial is a monument in Richmond, Virginia commemorating protests which helped bring about school desegregation in the state. The memorial was opened in July 2008, and is located on the grounds of the Virginia State Capitol...
was commissioned and dedicated in July 2008. The memorial, which includes an imnage of Hill, honors the roles Virginians have played in the nation's struggle for civil rights for all.
Oliver Hill's autobiography
Autobiography
An autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...
: The Big Bang: Brown v. Board of Education, The Autobiography of Oliver W. Hill, Sr. edited by Professor Jonathan K. Stubbs, was published in 2000 and reprinted in 2007.
On Sunday, August 5, 2007, Oliver Hill died peacefully during breakfast at his home in Richmond, Virginia of natural causes at the age of 100 years old. Later that day, Virginia Governor Tim Kaine
Tim Kaine
Timothy Michael "Tim" Kaine is a Virginia politician. Kaine served as the 70th Governor of Virginia from 2006 to 2010, and was the chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 2009 to 2011...
issued a statement, saying:
-
- "As a pioneer for civil rights, an accomplished attorney, and a war veteran, Mr. Hill's dedication to serving the Commonwealth and the country never failed. And, despite all of the accolades and honors he received, Mr. Hill always believed his true legacy was working to challenge the conscience of our Commonwealth and our country."
External links
- Virginia Historical Society; Oliver Hill webpage
- Howard University School of Law, Brown at 50 bios, Oliver Hill webpage
- Civil Rights Lawyer Oliver Hill Dies at 100
- "Oliver Hill statue pictures to be unveiled 2008 Richmond Virginia" website
- "The Ground Beneath Our Feet" website
- and timeline
- VA Historical Society
- History of busing in Richmond
- Library of Virginia
- "They Closed Our Schools," the story of Massive Resistance and the closing of the Prince Edward County, Virginia public schools
- Bond, Julian, Interview with Oliver W. Hill, Virginia Quarterly Review, Winter 2004.
- Oliver Hill's oral history video excerpts at The National Visionary Leadership Project
- Oliver Hill 2002 oral history video from the Voices of Freedom Collection of the VCU Libraries