Donald L. Hollowell

src: i.ytimg.com

Donald Lee Hollowell (December 19, 1917 - December 27, 2004) was an American civil rights lawyer during the Civil Rights Movement, in the state of Georgia. He successfully sued to integrate Atlanta public schools, Georgian colleges, universities and public transport, freeing Martin Luther King, Jr. from prison, and guiding civil rights lawyers (including Vernon Jordan and Horace Ward). The first black regional director of the federal agency (EEOC), Hollowell was most remembered for his instrumental role in winning the University of Georgia desegregation in 1961. He is the subject of the documentary 2010, Donald L. Hollowell: Foot Soldier for Equal Justice.

Video Donald L. Hollowell

Biography

Initial years

Donald Hollowell was born and raised in Wichita, Kansas, and earned a high school diploma while serving six years in the US Army's 10th Cavalry Regiment (the original Buffalo Soldier regiment). Though in Kansas and therefore not subject to Jim Crow's racist law in the South, he faced a striking racism and discrimination while serving in the US Army during World War II. Hollowell relates that "military officials put him in the kitchen, sleep in a room adjacent to the custody, and lower Jim Crow's canteen." Hollowell's experience with racial segregation and discrimination and his involvement with the South Negro Youth Congress after the war inspired him to study the law to aid in the struggle for social justice. In 1947, Hollowell graduated magna cum laude from Lane College in Jackson, Tennessee, and he obtained a law degree from Loyola University Chicago School of Law in 1951.

Legal career

In 1952, Hollowell established legal practice in Atlanta, Georgia, where he began to play a leading role in the growing civil rights struggle.

Hollowell became famous for fighting racial segregation in the State of Georgia. Hollowell sued the University of Georgia, suing the institution with a policy of racist acceptance. The lawsuit ended in 1961 with a federal court order demanding recognition of two African American students, Charlayne Hunter and Hamilton E. Holmes.

In 1960, Hollowell and legal adviser Horace Ward won victory in the Georgia Court of Appeals which guaranteed the release of Pdt. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. from the Georgia State Prison. In other cases, Hollowell and his company members prevented the execution of a 15-year-old black man from Monticello, Georgia five days before being scheduled. Hollowell and Civil Rights champion C. B. King also defended Dr. Hollowell. King and hundreds of civil rights activists in the historic civil rights campaign in Albany, Georgia known as the Albany Movement.

In 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed Hollowell as regional director of the Commission on Cooperation Opportunities (EEOC), a government agency that monitors discrimination in the workplace. This appointment made Hollowell the first black regional director of a major federal agency. Hollowell has remained with EEOC for nearly 20 years. Hollowell also served as president of the Voters Education Project, where he helped increase the number of African-American voters from 3 million to 5.5 million.

In 2002, the University of Georgia presented a Doctor of Law degree from Hollowell.

Personal

Hollowell is a dedicated member of the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity. In 1968, he received the highest award of Fraternity, Laurel Wreath Award, for his work in civil rights.

Hollowell married Louise T. Hollowell, a graduate of magna cum laude Morris Brown College and the famous Professor of English (Emeritus) at Morris Brown. In 1997, Louise Hollowell and Martin Lehfeldt wrote a book entitled The Sacred Call: A Tribute to Donald L. Hollowell - The Civil Rights Champion, which tells of Hollowell's services and accomplishments. The book also tells the love story of Donald and Louise Hollowell, who celebrated their 61st wedding anniversary in 2004. Lawyers and Mrs. Hollowell does not have natural children, but is a godparent for Dr. Albert JH Sloan, II, former President of Miles College (HBCU) outside Birmingham, Alabama.

Death and inheritance

Hollowell died on December 27, 2004, eight days after his 87th birthday, due to heart failure.

In his honor, the City of Atlanta was renamed the Bankhead Highway (78 US) in his honor; Emory University also appoints a professorship in honor of it. Hollowell is the subject of the 2010 documentary, Donald L. Hollowell: Foot Soldier for Equal Justice, and a full biography published in 2013 by the University of Georgia Press.