H. Res. 1271 
In the House of Representatives, U. S., 
April 20, 2010. 
Whereas Benjamin Lawson Hooks, a native Memphian, was 
the fifth out of seven children born to Robert B. and 
Bessie Hooks; 
Whereas his grandmother, Julia Britton Hooks, was the sec-
ond African-American female college graduate in the Na-
tion, graduating from Berea College in Kentucky in 
1874; 
Whereas Dr. Hooks studied prelaw at LeMoyne College in 
Memphis and continued his studies at Howard University 
in Washington, DC, and at Depaul University Law 
School in Chicago, Illinois; 
Whereas Dr. Hooks was a member of Omega Psi Phi Frater-
nity; 
Whereas after college, he then served in the United States 
Army during World War II and had the job of guarding 
Italian prisoners who were able to eat in restaurants that 
were off limits to him, an experience that he found 
humiliating and that deepened his determination to do 
something about bigotry in the South; 
Whereas in 1949, Dr. Hooks met teacher Frances Dancy and 
the couple married in 1952; 
Whereas the couple had a daughter, Patricia Gray;
•HRES 1271 EH 
Whereas from 1949 to 1965 he was one of the few African- 
Americans practicing law in Memphis, Tennessee; 
Whereas in 1954, Dr. Hooks served on a roundtable with 
Thurgood Marshall and other Southern African-American 
attorneys to formulate a possible litigation strategy days 
before the Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of 
Education of Topeka was handed down; 
Whereas Dr. Hooks served as assistant public defender of 
Shelby County, Memphis, from 1961 to 1965; 
Whereas in 1965, he was appointed by Tennessee Governor 
Frank G. Clement to serve as a criminal judge in Shelby 
County becoming the first African-American criminal 
court judge in the State of Tennessee; 
Whereas Dr. Hooks was also a Baptist minister who pastored 
at the Greater Middle Baptist Church in Memphis, Ten-
nessee, and the Greater New Mount Moriah Baptist 
Church in Detroit, Michigan; 
Whereas he joined the Southern Christian Leadership Con-
ference of Reverend Martin Luther King in 1956; 
Whereas from 1972 to 1977, President Richard Nixon ap-
pointed Rev. Hooks to the Federal Communications Com-
mission, making him the first African-American ap-
pointed commissioner; 
Whereas from 1977 to 1992, Rev. Hooks was the Executive 
Director and CEO of the National Association for the 
Advancement of Colored People (NAACP); 
Whereas under his leadership, the NAACP fought for affirm-
ative action, led efforts to end apartheid in South Africa, 
and addressed racism in sports and in the Rodney King 
trial;
•HRES 1271 EH 
Whereas Rev. Hooks was awarded the Spingarn Medal in 
1986 from the NAACP; 
Whereas Dr. Hooks served as chairman of the board of direc-
tors of the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis; 
Whereas he taught at the University of Memphis, and the 
Benjamin L. Hooks Institute for Social Change was es-
tablished at the University in 1996; 
Whereas on March 24, 2001, Rev. Hooks and his beautiful 
wife Frances renewed their wedding vows for the third 
time, after nearly 50 years of marriage; 
Whereas in 2002, Dr. Hooks founded the Children’s Health 
Forum to protect the most vulnerable children from pre-
ventable disease; 
Whereas Dr. Hooks received the Presidential Medal of Free-
dom from President George W. Bush at a White House 
ceremony in November 2007; 
Whereas Rev. Hooks gave one of his last lectures on civil 
rights and social justice as part of the premier lecture se-
ries of the Benjamin Hooks Institute for Social Change 
in the Judiciary Committee Room of the Rayburn House 
Office Building in Washington, DC, on October 6, 2009; 
Whereas he was one of the greatest civil rights icons of 
United States history and a community leader in Mem-
phis; and 
Whereas Rev. Benjamin L. Hooks was one of the golden- 
throated warriors of the spoken word, and one of the few 
silver-tongued giants of oratory: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives honors the 
life and achievements of Dr. Benjamin Lawson Hooks, for his 
commitment to justice on the bench in Memphis, Tennessee,
•HRES 1271 EH 
for his strong work with the National Association for the Ad-
vancement of Colored People to formulate strategies for 
eliminating barriers to civil rights, and for his leadership in 
promoting equal opportunity for all. 
Attest: 
Clerk.