DETROIT — Wayne State University Law School’s Damon J. Keith Collection of African American Legal History is pleased to announce that the exhibit “Marching Toward Justice: The History of the 14th Amendment” will be featured at Columbia Law School in New York City from Oct. 5 through Nov. 1.
A grand opening reception is scheduled from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Oct. 10 on the third floor of Jerome Green Hall at Columbia Law School. Featured speakers will include Judge Sterling Johnson of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, a celebrated African American jurist, and Theodore Shaw, professor at Columbia and former director-counsel and president of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. Johnson and Shaw will discuss the importance of African American lawyers and jurists to our society.
“Marching Toward Justice” is part of the Damon J. Keith Law Collection of African American Legal History, a central repository for the nation’s African American legal history. The exhibit was created to inform the public about the fundamental importance of the 14th Amendment and our nation’s ongoing quest to realize the high hopes of the Declaration of Independence. The exhibit tells the story of our government’s promotion of justice and equality for some while condoning the enslavement of others. Since the inaugural showing of “Marching Toward Justice” at the Thurgood Marshall Federal Judiciary Building in Washington, D.C., the exhibit has traveled to more than 40 sites, including locations in San Francisco, Chicago, Boston, Dallas and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The Keith Collection is housed at Wayne State University Law School.
I. India Geronimo, director of the collection and former law clerk to The Hon. Damon J. Keith, said, “The ‘Marching Toward Justice’ exhibit celebrates civil rights pioneers who were tireless in fighting for equal justice under the law. We are pleased that the exhibit will be at Columbia Law School, because it has served as a training ground for many talented civil rights lawyers and judges. It is wonderful that two civil rights pioneers in their own right — Judge Sterling Johnson and Professor Ted Shaw — will be commemorating the opening of the exhibit at Columbia.”
To learn more about the Columbia Law School exhibit, contact Fran Williams at fran.williams@law.columbia.edu or 212-854-6486. The “Marching Toward Justice” exhibition at Columbia is possible through the generosity of the General Motors Foundation.
The Keith Collection is part of the Damon J. Keith Center for Civil Rights. The Keith Center promotes civil rights educational opportunities and encourages research on racial justice issues, including housing segregation, inadequate and segregated education, and unequal economic opportunities, with a particular focus on southeastern Michigan. It also contributes to the development of the next generation of civil rights advocates by providing opportunities to work with leading civil rights organizations and providing scholarships to Wayne Law students interested in pursuing civil rights law.
PHOTO CAPTION:
This iconic image, one of those featured in the exhibit, shows Thurgood Marshall and Autherine Lucy en route to the federal court in Birmingham, Ala., in 1954 to fight for her right to attend the University of Alabama.