|
EDITORIAL
 Oliver Hill
Much has been written in the last two weeks about Oliver Hill, a native Virginian who argued a case before the U.S. Supreme Court and its ruling which changed the course of history.
Born in Richmond in 1907, Mr. Hill grew up in Roanoke during segregation which had long been entrenched. In fact, he left Roanoke to attend high school in Washington, D.C. because Roanoke, known as the Star City, did not have a public high school for blacks.
He stayed on in the nation’s capital after graduating from high school and attended Howard University. He decided to become a lawyer after an uncle, a lawyer, died and his aunt gave him all his uncle’s old legal books. He graduated from Howard Law School in 1933. He was second in his class, preceded by Thurgood Marshall, the man who became the nation’s first black to join the Supreme Court.
Many might not know that Mr. Hill won his first civil rights case when the City of Norfolk was ordered to pay black teachers the same salary as white teachers. This court ruling was made in 1940.
It was in 1951 when Mr. Hill heard of an injustice in Farmville that would bring his name to the national spotlight. He learned that students at the R.R. Moton High School in Farmville had walked out of their school claiming it was dilapidated. The subsequent lawsuit against the Prince Edward County School Board became one of the five cases decided under the Supreme Court’s Brown vs. Board of Education ruling in 1954.
For sure, there was a price to pay in the challenge to the old Jim Crow laws entrenched in the South. A cross was burned on his lawn but that was minor in comparison to the death threats he received.
The decades rolled on and official segregation ended. Integration was the law of the land. Oliver Hill was recognized for his actions and determination which changed the way of life for millions of blacks. President Clinton awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom on Aug. 11, 1999 at the White House. Clearly a new day had come.
Oliver Hill died quietly at age 100 at his home in Richmond’s Ginter Park neighborhood. The Catholic Diocese of Richmond acknowledges with gratitude the role he played in Virginia’s and the nation’s history.
— Steve Neill
back to top
Copyright © 2006 The Catholic Virginian Press. Articles from Catholic News Services, including Fr. Dietzen’s column, may not be reproduced here due to copyright considerations.
The Catholic Virginian is a biweekly publication serving the people of the Catholic Diocese of Richmond. This website includes some, but not all, of the articles from the print version of The Catholic Virginian.
For subscription information Contact Us.
|
