By Garry Blanson
Today, in Monroe, Louisiana, it seems that many Black students at schools in our Black Communities do not remember that Howard University was actually the “chosen facility” for training Negro Civil Rights Lawyers. As a matter of fact, noted Civil Rights attorneys Thurgood Marshall and Oliver Hill both attended Howard University. Also, they both worked on the historic Brown vs. Board of Education case.
So why should we teach our Black children in our Black Communities about Howard University being the chosen facility to train Negro lawyers? Well, more frequently than ever, more and more of our Black youth are getting caught up in the legal system.
A system that is ready and able to put them back in the “role of slaves.”Therefore, I hope that by teaching our Black youth about how Black people used Howard University to train Black Civil Rights lawyers in the past, they will want to learn more about “The Black Lawyer in History.” Now, let’s get to this week’s Black Pioneer! Charles Hamilton Houston was born on September 3, 1895, in Washington, D.C., to William Le Pré and Mary Houston. At the age of 15, Charles graduated from the famous “M Street High School.” Next, he enrolled at Amherst College.
In 1915, he graduated from Amherst and took a teaching position at Howard University, where he taught English.
However, when World War l began, Charles joined the U.S. Army. In the U.S. Army, he experienced firsthand many of the injustices that Negroes had to bear. Therefore, once discharged from his duties, he enrolled at Harvard Law School. At the end of 1923, Charles had earned his Bachelor of Law degree and a DJS degree. In 1924, Charles was admitted to the Washington, D.C., Bar and joined his father’s Law practice in Washington! Charles accomplished many marvelous things in his lifetime. Some of them included serving as the first special counsel for the NAACP, co-founding The National Bar Association in Washington, and serving as Dean of the Howard University School of Law, where he took the law program from part-time to full-time.
Furthermore, because of his leadership, Howard University became the “chosen facility” for training Negro Civil Rights Lawyers. Two of his most noted Protégés were Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall and Civil Rights Attorney Oliver Hill. On April 22, 1950, Charles Hamilton Houston died from a heart attack, at the age of 54.
