Civil Rights Crusader Oliver Hill

Monday, August 6, 2007

(DPVA / Richmond Times Dispatch)

DPVA Chairman Richard Cranwell:

"Oliver Hill spent his life dedicated to the causes of justice and equality, both here in Virginia and throughout the United States. Because of him, our schools are better, our workplaces fairer and our country is stronger. Mr. Hill challenged our country and changed it for the better. His life is a shining example to us all."

Civil Rights Crusader

Richmond Times Dispatch

By Ellen Robertson, Michael Paul Williams And Lindsay Kastner

Oliver W. Hill Sr., a pivotal figure in the fight to desegregate schools in Virginia and across the nation, died Sunday morning at his Richmond home. He was 100.

Mr. Hill's son, Oliver Hill Jr., said Mr. Hill died while the family was eating breakfast together. "It was a very peaceful ending," he said.

Mr. Hill was a lawyer and a former Richmond city councilman, the first black person elected to that office in the 20th century.

During the segregation era, Mr. Hill's legal team filed more civil-rights suits in Virginia than were filed in any other state in the South. The team won landmark decisions involving voting rights, jury selection, access to school buses, employment protection and other matters.

He played a crucial role in the U.S. Supreme Court's Brown v. Board of Education decision in 1954 that outlawed school segregation in the U.S.

"Few individuals in Virginia 's rich history have worked as tirelessly as Oliver Hill to make life better for all of our citizens," Gov. Timothy M. Kaine said in a statement. "His life's work was predicated on the simple truth that all men and women truly are created equal."

Former Gov. and U.S. Sen. Charles S. Robb, D-Va., once described Mr. Hill as the "last lion of the civil-rights movement." As a senator, Robb nominated Mr. Hill for the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, which Mr. Hill received in a 1999 White House ceremony.

In 2005, Mr. Hill received the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's highest honor, the Spingarn Medal. NAACP board Chairman Julian Bond called Mr. Hill "a giant in civil-rights law . . . risking life and limb to defend civil rights in hostile circumstances."