Interview with Oliver W. Hill, Sr.

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Interviewee

Hill, Oliver W.

Interviewer

Carrington, Ronald E.

Producer

Virginia Civil Rights Movement Video Initiative

Date of Interview

11-13-2002

Description

Oliver W. Hill, Sr. , Virginia's leading Civil Rights attorney in the 20th century, represented the students in Prince Edward County in the Brown vs. Board of Education desegregation case. Born in Richmond in 1907, Hill earned his undergraduate and law degrees from Howard University. Hill began practicing law in 1934, focusing on litigating Civil Right cases. He received national attention in 1948 when he was the first African American since Reconstruction elected to the Richmond City Council. At the age of 91 he retired from his Richmond law firm, Hill, Tucker and Marsh, after practicing law for nearly 60 years. In 1999, President Bill Clinton presented Hill with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He began practicing law in 1934, focusing on litigating Civil Right cases. Hill received national attention in 1948 when he was elected to the Richmond City Council and became its first African American since Reconstruction. At the age 91 he retired from his Richmond law firm, Hill, Tucker and Marsh, after practicing law for nearly 60 years. In 1999, President Bill Clinton presented Hill with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Note

This interview was conducted November 13, 2002 at Mr. Hill's home in Richmond. Ronald E. Carrington, President of Media Consultants Global, Inc. of Richmond, was the director-producer of the video taping and interviewed the interviewees. Historian Dr. Betsy Brinson conducted preliminary oral interviews. The text of the oral history was transcribed by Halasz Reporting and Video, Richmond. Other editing by the staff of Special Collections and Archives, VCU Libraries. A transcript of the interview is included as an additional file above.

Subject

Civil rights movements; Civil rights movements--United States; Civil rights movements--Southern States--History--20th century

City/Location

Virginia

Genre

oral histories (literary genre); interviews

Local Genre

oral history; moving image; text

Type

Moving Image

Digital Format

video/mp4

Language

eng

Rights

This material is protected by copyright, and copyright is held by VCU. You are permitted to use this material in any way that is permitted by copyright. In addition, this material is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International license (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). Acknowledgment of Virginia Commonwealth University Libraries as a source is required.

Collection

Voices of Freedom: videotaped oral histories of leaders of the Civil Rights movement in Virginia

Source

Voices of Freedom, James Branch Cabell Library Special Collections and Archives.

File Name

hill_800k.mp4

Disciplines

African American Studies | American Studies | Oral History | Political History | Public History | Social History | United States History | Women's Studies

Interview with Oliver W. Hill, Sr.

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