Hill, Oliver W., 1907-2007

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Born Oliver White in Richmond, Virginia, on May 1, 1907, Oliver Hill's legal career helped end the doctrine of "separate but equal." Hill's father left the family when he was still a baby, and when his mother remarried, he took on her new last name. While attending Howard University, his uncle, a lawyer, died, and his aunt gave Hill all of his old legal books. After reading them, Hill decided to become a lawyer and win back the rights that had been denied to so many. He graduated from Howard Law School in 1933, second in his class only to Thurgood Marshall.

Hill's early legal career did not foreshadow his later successes. At one point, he even gave up his legal practice and worked as a waiter. He returned to Richmond, however, and has been practicing law there since 1939. The following year, he won his first civil rights case when the city of Norfolk, Virginia, was ordered to pay black teachers the same as white teachers. In 1951, Hill heard that the students at R.R. Moton High School in Farmville, Virginia, had walked out of their dilapidated school. The subsequent lawsuit, Davis v. County School Board of Prince Edward County later became one of the five cases decided under Brown v. the Board of Education. During these years, Hill's home life was under constant threat. He did not allow his son to answer the telephone because so many threats were coming in, and a cross was burned on his lawn. He persevered, however, and today Hill and his partners have filed more civil rights cases in Virginia than were filed in any other Southern state.

Hill also broke the mold when he and several other Virginia lawyers formed the Old Dominion Bar Association in 1942, and when he successful ran for the city council of Richmond in 1948, becoming the first African American to do so since Reconstruction.

Hill was the recipient of numerous awards over the decades, including being awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom on August 11, 1999. Students at the University of Virginia also honored Hill when they founded the Oliver W. Hill Black Pre-Law Association. Hill retired from his legal practice in 1998, and today a bronze bust of him is visible at the Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia.

Hill passed away on Sunday, August 5, 2007, at the age of 100.

From The HistoryMakers™ biography: https://www.thehistorymakers.org/biography/A2003.270

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
referencedIn Powell, Lewis F. Lewis F. Powell, Jr. papers [part 4]. 1921-1998. The Library at Washington and Lee University School of Law, Law Library
referencedIn Court of Appeals of Virginia Oral History Interviews, 2009-2013 Supreme Court of Virginia Archives, Virginia State Law Library.
referencedIn James H. Latimer Papers, 1864-2000 Library of Virginia
creatorOf Powell, Lewis F. Lewis F. Powell, Jr. Papers [part 7]. 1921-1998. The Library at Washington and Lee University School of Law, Law Library
referencedIn Elwood, William A. William A. Elwood Civil Rights Lawyers Project collection [manuscript], 1984-1989. University of Virginia. Library
referencedIn Oral History Interview of Allen L. Lucy, Clerk (retired) of the Supreme Court of Virginia, June 11, 2009 Supreme Court of Virginia Archives, Virginia State Law Library.
referencedIn Elwood, William A. Papers of William A. Elwood, 1984-1989. University of Virginia. Library
referencedIn William T. Coleman, Henry L. Marsh, and William T. Mason oral history interviews, 2008-2009 Supreme Court of Virginia Archives, Virginia State Law Library.
referencedIn Powell, Lewis F., 1907-1998,. Lewis F. Powell oral history interview, 1990 Nov. 5. Georgia State University
referencedIn Elizabeth City County (Va.) Schools Correspondence, 1918-1952 Library of Virginia
referencedIn Supreme Court of Virginia Oral History Interviews, 2007- Supreme Court of Virginia Archives, Virginia State Law Library.
creatorOf Charlottesville (Va.). School Board. Records of the Charlottesville City School Board [manuscript], ca.1869-2006. University of Virginia. Library
Role Title Holding Repository
creatorOf The HistoryMakers Video Oral History with Oliver W. Hill The HistoryMakers
Relation Name
associatedWith Charlottesville (Va.). School Board. corporateBody
associatedWith Elwood, William A. person
associatedWith Hampton (Va.) City Schools. corporateBody
associatedWith Latimer, James Howe, 1913-2000. person
associatedWith Powell, Lewis F., 1907-1998. person
associatedWith Supreme Court of Virginia Historical Advisory Committee. corporateBody
associatedWith Supreme Court of Virginia Historical Commission. corporateBody
associatedWith Virginia. Supreme Court. corporateBody
Place Name Admin Code Country
Richmond (Va.)
Richmond (Va.)
Subject
Occupation
Civil Rights Lawyer
Activity

Person

Birth 1907-05-01

Death 2007-08-05

Birth 19070501

Death 20070805

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