Description
“A classic. . . . [It] will make an atypical contribution to the improvement of race relations and the understanding of race and the American legal process.”—Pass judgement on A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr., from the Foreword
Charles Hamilton Houston (1895-1950) left an indelible mark on American law and society. A brilliant lawyer and educator, he laid much of the legal foundation for the landmark civil rights decisions of the 1950s and 1960s. A few of the lawyers who won the greatest advances for civil rights within the courts, Justice Thurgood Marshall among them, were trained by Houston in his capacity as dean of the Howard University Law School. Politically Houston realized that blacks needed to develop their racial identity and also to recognize the class dimension inherent in their struggle for full civil rights as Americans.
Genna Rae McNeil is thorough and passionate in her remedy of Houston, evoking a wealthy circle of relatives tradition in addition to the courage, genius, and tenacity of a man in large part answerable for the acts of “simple justice” that changed the course of American life.