IV 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 684 
Recognizing and honoring Howard University School of Law’s 140-year legacy 
of social justice and its continued commitment to the training of capable 
and compassionate legal practitioners and scholars. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 28, 2009 
Ms. KILPATRICK of Michigan (for herself, Mr. MEEKS of New York, Mr. 
GRIJALVA, Ms. WATSON, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania, Mr. 
SESTAK, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. RYAN of Ohio, 
Mr. CAO, Ms. NORTON, Mr. PAYNE, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr. 
MEEK of Florida, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. DAVIS of Alabama, Ms. LEE 
of California, Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, 
Mr. CARSON of Indiana, Mr. GRAYSON, Ms. EDWARDS of Maryland, Mr. 
RUSH, Mr. TOWNS, Mrs. CHRISTENSEN, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON 
of Texas, Mr. FATTAH, Ms. CLARKE, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, and Mr. AL 
GREEN of Texas) submitted the following resolution; which was referred 
to the Committee on Education and Labor 
RESOLUTION 
Recognizing and honoring Howard University School of 
Law’s 140-year legacy of social justice and its continued 
commitment to the training of capable and compas-
sionate legal practitioners and scholars. 
Whereas in 1867, shortly after the end of the Civil War, with 
funds provided by the Freedman’s Bureau, Howard Nor-
mal and Theological Institute was established; 
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•HRES 684 IH 
Whereas the following year, the Board of Trustees voted to 
expand the institute’s curriculum and change the name 
to Howard University; 
Whereas in 1869, Howard University School of Law, which 
shares Howard University’s founding principles: Veritas 
et Utilitas (Truth and Service), was opened in an effort 
to address the great need to train lawyers who would 
have a strong commitment to helping African-Americans 
secure and protect their newly established rights granted 
by the 13th and 14th amendments to the Constitution; 
Whereas Howard Law School is the first law school dedicated 
to the education of African-Americans; 
Whereas Howard Law School’s original faculty members were 
former Dean of the Law School, John Mercer Langston, 
and the Honorable Albert Gallatin Riddle; 
Whereas John Mercer Langston, the namesake of Langston 
University, was the first African-American Member of the 
House of Representatives from the State of Virginia, rep-
resenting Virginia’s 4th district, and former President of 
Virginia Normal and Collegiate Institute (presently 
known as Virginia State University); 
Whereas the Honorable Albert Gallatin Riddle, former Mem-
ber of the 37th Congress, was an abolitionist, novelist, 
and judge; 
Whereas Charlotte E. Ray (class of 1872) was not only the 
first African-American female graduate of Howard Law 
School, but was also the first African-American female to 
practice law in the District of Columbia; 
Whereas James C. Napier (class of 1872), who was invited 
to attend Howard Law School by Dean John Mercer 
Langston, served as President William H. Taft’s Reg-
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•HRES 684 IH 
istrar of the Treasury, and is 1 of 5 African-Americans 
whose signature has appeared on currency of the United 
States; 
Whereas Robert H. Terrell (class of 1889) was the first Afri-
can-American municipal judge for the District of Colum-
bia; 
Whereas former Dean of Howard Law School, Henry Hastie, 
became the first African-American Governor of the 
United States Virgin Islands, the first African-American 
Federal magistrate judge, and the first African-American 
to be appointed as a Federal circuit court judge; 
Whereas former Vice Dean, Charles Hamilton Houston, wide-
ly known as, ‘‘the man who killed Jim Crow’’, was known 
to remark to his students that, ‘‘a lawyer is either a so-
cial engineer or a parasite on society. . .’’; 
Whereas Howard Law School served as the training ground 
and planning site for the lawyers who, through Brown v. 
Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, rejected the no-
tion that separate education equates to equal education; 
Whereas civil rights attorneys Oliver Hill (class of 1930) and 
co-counsel, Spottswood Robinson III (class of 1939), 
were attorneys for the plaintiffs in Davis v. County 
School Board of Prince Edward County, which was 1 of 
5 cases consolidated with Brown v. Board of Education 
of Topeka, Kansas; 
Whereas Thurgood Marshall (class of 1933) was the lead liti-
gator to argue Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 
Kansas, before the Supreme Court, and he was later 
named Associate Justice on the Supreme Court; 
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•HRES 684 IH 
Whereas Damon Keith (class of 1949) is currently a senior 
judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the 
Sixth Circuit; 
Whereas Harris Wofford (class of 1954) is a former Senator 
from Pennsylvania and was a civil rights advisor to Presi-
dent John F. Kennedy; 
Whereas former Mayor of Richmond, Virginia, L. Douglas 
Wilder (class of 1959), was the first African-American 
Governor of Virginia; 
Whereas Vernon Jordan (class of 1960), former advisor to 
President Bill Clinton, noted that at Howard Law 
School, he found, ‘‘a wife, a career, and a reaffirmation 
of [his] faith in the mission of black people’’, and that 
his time at Howard, ‘‘saved [his] soul’’; 
Whereas Roland Burris (class of 1963) is a Member of the 
Senate; 
Whereas Gabrielle McDonald (class of 1966), Howard Uni-
versity Trustee Emerita, serves as president and judge of 
the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugo-
slavia, and formerly served as a judge for the United 
States District Court for the Southern District of Texas 
and was elected to the ‘‘Texas Woman’s Hall of Fame’’; 
Whereas former Dean and professor at Howard Law School, 
J. Clay Smith (class of 1967), who was appointed by 
President Jimmy Carter in 1978 and President Ronald 
Reagan in 1981 to serve on the Equal Employment Op-
portunity Commission, in the capacities of Commissioner 
and Acting Chairman, is the author of ‘‘Emancipation: 
The Making of the Black Lawyer 1844–1944’’ and 
‘‘Rebels in Law: Voices in History of Black Women Law-
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•HRES 684 IH 
yers’’, and the editor of ‘‘Supreme Justice: Speeches and 
Writings’’, written by Thurgood Marshall; 
Whereas Wiley Daniel (class of 1971) was the first African- 
American appointed as a judge for the United States 
District Court for the District of Colorado; 
Whereas Isaiah Leggett (class of 1974) is the County Execu-
tive for Montgomery County, Maryland; 
Whereas Jack Johnson (class of 1975) is the County Execu-
tive for Prince George’s County, Maryland; 
Whereas the recent addition of Vicky Miles-LeGrange (class 
of 1977) as Chief Judge of the United States District 
Court for the Western District of Oklahoma evidences 
the ongoing commitment of the faculty and staff of How-
ard Law School in equipping alumni with the necessary 
tools to succeed at every level; 
Whereas Gregory Meeks (class of 1978) is a Member of the 
House of Representatives; 
Whereas former District of Columbia Mayors, Walter Wash-
ington (class of 1948) and Sharon Pratt Kelly (class of 
1968), and current Mayor, Adrian Fenty (class of 1996), 
are alumni of Howard Law School; 
Whereas Howard Law School is associated with a select 
group of law schools that can boast having as alumni a 
Supreme Court Justice, numerous Federal and State 
judges, Members of both the House of Representatives 
and the Senate, a Governor, and several Mayors; 
Whereas the Princeton Review ranks Howard Law School’s 
faculty as the most diverse law school faculty in the Na-
tion; 
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