Files
Loading...
Interviewee
Hill, Oliver W.
Accessibility Note
Content is digitally accessible 2024.
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 Statement URL
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