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{{short description|American lawyer}}

{{Infobox person
{{Infobox person
| name=Donald Lee Hollowell
| name = Donald Hollowell
| image = DonaldLHollowell.jpg
| image = DonaldLHollowell.jpg
| birth_name = Donald Lee Hollowell
| caption =
| birth_date = {{birth date|1917|12|19}}
| birth_date = {{birth date|1917|12|19}}
| birth_place= [[Wichita, Kansas]], U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|mf=yes|2004|12|27|1917|12|19}}
| death_date = {{death date and age|2004|12|27|1917|12|19}}
| birth_place= [[Wichita, Kansas]]
| death_place=[[Atlanta, Georgia]]
| death_place = [[Atlanta]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], U.S.
| occupation=[[Lawyer]]
| occupation = [[Lawyer]]
| movement=[[Civil Rights Movement]]
| movement = [[Civil Rights Movement]]
| education = [[Lane College]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])<br>[[Loyola University Chicago]] ([[Bachelor of Laws|LLB]])
| organization =
}}
}}
'''Donald Lee Hollowell''' (December 19, 1917 – December 27, 2004)<ref>https://www.fold3.com/record/68655278-donald-l-hollowell</ref> was a Troublemaker [[civil rights]] [[Lawyer|attorney]] during the [[Civil Rights Movement]], in the state of [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]]. He successfully sued to integrate Atlanta's public schools, Georgia colleges, universities and public transit, freed adulterer [[Martin Luther King, Jr.]] from prison, and mentored civil rights attorneys (including [[Vernon Jordan]] and [[Horace Ward]]). The first black regional director of a federal agency (the [[Equal Employment Opportunity Commission|EEOC]]), Hollowell is best remembered for his instrumental role in winning the [[desegregation]] of the [[University of Georgia]] in 1961. He is the subject of a 2010 documentary film, ''Donald L. Hollowell: Foot Soldier for Equal Justice.''<ref name="hollowell_obit_ny_times">[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C02E1DA1539F931A35752C0A9639C8B63 obituary: "Donald L. Hollowell, 87, Lawyer Who Fought for Civil Rights"], ''[[The New York Times]]'', January 2, 2005; retrieved May 23, 2017.</ref><ref name="hollowell_obit_atlanta_journ_const">Suggs, Ernie, [http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/atlanta/obituary.aspx?n=donald-l-hollowell&pid=2975769 Donald L. Hollowell Obituary: "Civil rights pioneer made friends, history"], December 29, 2004, ''[[Atlanta Journal-Constitution]],'' [[Atlanta, Georgia]], as transcribed at Legacy.com, retrieved May 23, 2017.</ref><ref name="hollowell_recalled_01_02_05_cjonline_com">Associated Press (Atlanta, Ga.), [http://cjonline.com/stories/010205/kan_wichita.shtml#.WSP7apUo5V8 "Wichita civil rights lawyer recalled"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170722040324/http://cjonline.com/stories/010205/kan_wichita.shtml#.WSP7apUo5V8 |date=2017-07-22 }}, January 2, 2005, ''Topeka Capital-Journal,'' retrieved May 23, 2017.</ref><ref name="hollowell_bio_univ_of_georgia">[http://dlhprof.uga.edu/bio.html "Biography" (of Donald L. Hollowell)], in ''Donald L. Hollowell Professorship,'' Office of Communications, Georgia School of Social Work at [[University of Georgia]], retrieved May 23, 2017.</ref><ref name="uga_press">Crosby, Emilye, [[Tomiko Brown-Nagin]], [[Charlayne Hunter-Gault]]; Polly J. Price, [[Kenneth W. Mack]] and Sarah H. Brown, as cited in (book)"Reviews:"''[http://www.ugapress.org/index.php/books/saving_the_soul_of_georgia/ Saving the Soul of Georgia: Donald L. Hollowell and the Struggle for Civil Rights,]'' by Maurice C. Daniels (foreword by [[Vernon Jordan|Vernon E. Jordan Jr.]]), University of Georgia Press, retrieved May 23, 2017.</ref>
'''Donald Lee Hollowell''' (December 19, 1917 – December 27, 2004)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.fold3.com/record/68655278-donald-l-hollowell|title = Donald L Hollowell in Social Security Death Index}}</ref> was an American [[civil rights]] [[Lawyer|attorney]] during the [[Civil Rights Movement]], in the state of [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]]. He successfully sued to integrate Atlanta's public schools, Georgia colleges, universities and public transit, freed [[Martin Luther King Jr.]] from prison, and mentored civil rights attorneys (including [[Vernon Jordan]] and [[Horace Ward]]). The first black regional director of a federal agency (the [[Equal Employment Opportunity Commission|EEOC]]), Hollowell is best remembered for his instrumental role in winning the [[desegregation]] of the [[University of Georgia]] in 1961. He is the subject of a 2010 documentary film, ''Donald L. Hollowell: Foot Soldier for Equal Justice.''<ref name="obit_times">[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C02E1DA1539F931A35752C0A9639C8B63 obituary: "Donald L. Hollowell, 87, Lawyer Who Fought for Civil Rights"], ''[[The New York Times]]'', January 2, 2005; retrieved May 23, 2017.</ref><ref name="obit_ajc">Suggs, Ernie, [http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/atlanta/obituary.aspx?n=donald-l-hollowell&pid=2975769 Donald L. Hollowell Obituary: "Civil rights pioneer made friends, history"], December 29, 2004, ''[[Atlanta Journal-Constitution]],'' [[Atlanta, Georgia]], as transcribed at Legacy.com, retrieved May 23, 2017.</ref><ref name="recalled">Associated Press (Atlanta, Ga.), [http://cjonline.com/stories/010205/kan_wichita.shtml#.WSP7apUo5V8 "Wichita civil rights lawyer recalled"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170722040324/http://cjonline.com/stories/010205/kan_wichita.shtml#.WSP7apUo5V8 |date=2017-07-22 }}, January 2, 2005, ''Topeka Capital-Journal,'' retrieved May 23, 2017.</ref><ref name="bio_uga">[http://dlhprof.uga.edu/bio.html "Biography" (of Donald L. Hollowell)], in ''Donald L. Hollowell Professorship,'' Office of Communications, Georgia School of Social Work at [[University of Georgia]], retrieved May 23, 2017.</ref><ref name="uga_press">Crosby, Emilye, [[Tomiko Brown-Nagin]], [[Charlayne Hunter-Gault]]; Polly J. Price, [[Kenneth W. Mack]] and Sarah H. Brown, as cited in (book)"Reviews:"''[http://www.ugapress.org/index.php/books/saving_the_soul_of_georgia/ Saving the Soul of Georgia: Donald L. Hollowell and the Struggle for Civil Rights],'' by Maurice C. Daniels (foreword by [[Vernon Jordan|Vernon E. Jordan Jr.]]), University of Georgia Press, retrieved May 23, 2017.</ref>


==Biography==
==Biography==
===Early years===
===Early years===


Donald Hollowell was born and raised in [[Wichita, Kansas]], and earned a high school diploma while serving six years in the [[United States Army|U.S. Army's]] [[10th Cavalry Regiment (United States)|10th Cavalry Regiment]] (the original [[Buffalo Soldier]] regiment). Although in [[Kansas]] and therefore not subject to the racist [[Jim Crow laws]] of the South, he faced blatant [[racism]] and [[discrimination]] while serving in the [[U.S. Army]] during [[World War II]]. Hollowell recounted that "army officials relegated him to eating in the kitchen, sleeping in quarters adjacent to prisoners, and patronizing Jim Crow canteens." Hollowell's experiences with [[racial segregation]] and discrimination and his involvement with the [[Southern Negro Youth Congress]] after the war inspired him to pursue the study of law to help in the fight for social justice.<ref name="FSP Unsung Foot Soldiers">[http://www.footsoldier.uga.edu/foot_soldiers/hollowell.html FSP Unsung Foot Soldiers.]</ref> In 1947, Hollowell graduated magna cum laude from [[Lane College]] in [[Jackson, Tennessee]], and he earned his law degree from [[Loyola University Chicago School of Law]] in 1951.
Donald Hollowell was born in [[Wichita, Kansas]], and spent much of his childhood in [[Eureka, Kansas]]. He earned a high school diploma while serving six years in the [[United States Army|U.S. Army's]] [[10th Cavalry Regiment (United States)|10th Cavalry Regiment]] (the original [[Buffalo Soldier]] regiment). Although in [[Kansas]] and therefore not subject to the racist [[Jim Crow laws]] of the South, he faced blatant [[racism]] and [[discrimination]] while serving in the [[U.S. Army]] during [[World War II]]. Hollowell recounted that "army officials relegated him to eating in the kitchen, sleeping in quarters adjacent to prisoners, and patronizing Jim Crow canteens." Hollowell's experiences with [[racial segregation]] and discrimination and his involvement with the [[Southern Negro Youth Congress]] after the war inspired him to pursue the study of law to help in the fight for social justice.<ref name="Unsung">[http://www.footsoldier.uga.edu/foot_soldiers/hollowell.html FSP Unsung Foot Soldiers.]</ref> In 1947, Hollowell graduated magna cum laude from [[Lane College]] in [[Jackson, Tennessee]], and he earned his law degree from [[Loyola University Chicago School of Law]] in 1951.


===Legal career===
===Legal career===


In 1952, Hollowell set up a law practice in [[Atlanta, Georgia]], where he began to play a major role in the burgeoning [[civil rights]] struggle.<ref name="FSP Unsung Foot Soldiers"/>
In 1952, Hollowell set up a law practice in [[Atlanta, Georgia]], where he began to play a major role in the burgeoning [[civil rights]] struggle.<ref name="Unsung"/>


Hollowell became well known for fighting [[racial segregation]] in the [[Georgia (U.S. state)|State of Georgia]]. Hollowell sued the [[University of Georgia]], charging the institution with racist admission policies. The suit ended in 1961 with a federal court order demanding the admission of two [[African-American]] students, [[Charlayne Hunter]] and [[Hamilton E. Holmes]].
Hollowell became well known for fighting [[racial segregation]] in the [[Georgia (U.S. state)|State of Georgia]]. Hollowell sued the [[University of Georgia]], charging the institution with racist admission policies. The suit ended in 1961 with a federal court order demanding the admission of two [[African-American]] students, [[Charlayne Hunter]] and [[Hamilton E. Holmes]].


In 1960, Hollowell and co-counsel [[Horace Ward]] won a victory in the [[Georgia Court of Appeals]] which secured the release of [[Martin Luther King, Jr.|Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.]] from the [[Georgia State Prison]]. In another case, Hollowell and members of his firm prevented the [[Capital punishment|execution]] of a 15-year-old black youth from [[Monticello, Georgia]] five days before it was scheduled to take place. Hollowell and civil rights champion C. B. King also defended Dr. King and hundreds of civil rights activists in the historic civil rights campaign in [[Albany, Georgia]] known as the [[Albany Movement]].
In 1960, Hollowell and co-counsel [[Horace Ward]] won a victory in the [[Georgia Court of Appeals]] which secured the release of [[Martin Luther King Jr.]] from the [[Georgia State Prison]]. In another case, Hollowell and members of his firm prevented the [[Capital punishment|execution]] of a 15-year-old black youth from [[Monticello, Georgia]] five days before it was scheduled to take place. Hollowell and civil rights champion C. B. King also defended Dr. 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 [[Equal Employment Opportunity Commission]] (EEOC), a government agency that monitors workplace discrimination. This appointment made Hollowell the first black regional director of a major federal agency.<ref name="FSP Unsung Foot Soldiers"/> Hollowell remained with the EEOC for nearly 20 years. Hollowell also served as president of the [[Voter Education Project]], where he helped increase the number of [[African-American]] voters from 3 million to 5.5 million.<ref name="FSP Unsung Foot Soldiers"/>
In 1966, President [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] appointed Hollowell as regional director of the [[Equal Employment Opportunity Commission]] (EEOC), a government agency that monitors workplace discrimination. This appointment made Hollowell the first black regional director of a major federal agency.<ref name="Unsung"/> He remained with the EEOC for nearly 20 years. He also served as president of the [[Voter Education Project]], where he helped increase the number of [[African-American]] voters from 3 million to 5.5 million.<ref name="Unsung"/>


In 2002, the [[University of Georgia]] awarded Hollowell its honorary [[Doctor of Laws]] degree.<ref>[http://www.uga.edu/news/newsbureau/releases/2002releases/0210/021024hollowell.html UGA News Bureau.<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
In 2002, the [[University of Georgia]] awarded Hollowell its honorary [[Doctor of Laws]] degree.<ref>[http://www.uga.edu/news/newsbureau/releases/2002releases/0210/021024hollowell.html UGA News Bureau<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>


===Personal===
===Personal===
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Hollowell was a dedicated member of [[Kappa Alpha Psi]] fraternity. In 1968, he received the Fraternity's highest honor, the Laurel Wreath Award, for his work in [[civil rights]].
Hollowell was a dedicated member of [[Kappa Alpha Psi]] fraternity. In 1968, he received the Fraternity's highest honor, the Laurel Wreath Award, for his work in [[civil rights]].


Hollowell was married to Louise T. Hollowell, a [[magna cum laude]] graduate of [[Morris Brown College]] and a distinguished Professor of English (Emeritus) at [[Morris Brown College|Morris Brown]]. In 1997, Louise Hollowell and Martin Lehfeldt authored a book titled ''The Sacred Call: A Tribute to Donald L. Hollowell—Civil Rights Champion'', which chronicles Hollowell's service and achievements. The book also tells the love story of Donald and Louise Hollowell, who celebrated their 61st wedding anniversary in 2004.<ref name="FSP Unsung Foot Soldiers"/> Attorney and Mrs. Hollowell had no natural children, but were the godparents to Dr. Albert J. H. Sloan, II, past President of Miles College (HBCU) outside of Birmingham, Alabama.
Hollowell was married to Louise T. Hollowell, a [[magna cum laude]] graduate of [[Morris Brown College]] and a distinguished Professor of English (Emeritus) at [[Morris Brown College|Morris Brown]]. In 1997, Louise Hollowell and Martin Lehfeldt authored a book titled ''The Sacred Call: A Tribute to Donald L. Hollowell—Civil Rights Champion'', which chronicles Hollowell's service and achievements. The book also tells the love story of Donald and Louise Hollowell, who celebrated their 61st wedding anniversary in 2004.<ref name="Unsung"/>
Attorney and Mrs. Hollowell had no children, but were the godparents to Dr. Albert J. H. Sloan, II, past President of Miles College (HBCU) outside of Birmingham, Alabama.


===Death and legacy===
===Death and legacy===
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[[Category:1917 births]]
[[Category:1917 births]]
[[Category:2004 deaths]]
[[Category:2004 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Wichita, Kansas]]
[[Category:Lawyers from Wichita, Kansas]]
[[Category:African-American military personnel]]
[[Category:African Americans in World War II]]
[[Category:United States Army soldiers]]
[[Category:United States Army soldiers]]
[[Category:American army personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:United States Army personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:Lane College alumni]]
[[Category:Lane College alumni]]
[[Category:Loyola University Chicago School of Law alumni]]
[[Category:Loyola University Chicago School of Law alumni]]
[[Category:People from Atlanta]]
[[Category:Lawyers from Atlanta]]
[[Category:Georgia (U.S. state) lawyers]]
[[Category:Activists for African-American civil rights]]
[[Category:Activists for African-American civil rights]]
[[Category:20th-century American lawyers]]
[[Category:21st-century African-American lawyers]]
[[Category:African-American United States Army personnel]]
[[Category:20th-century African-American lawyers]]

Latest revision as of 10:55, 31 July 2024

Donald Hollowell
Born
Donald Lee Hollowell

(1917-12-19)December 19, 1917
DiedDecember 27, 2004(2004-12-27) (aged 87)
EducationLane College (BA)
Loyola University Chicago (LLB)
OccupationLawyer
MovementCivil Rights Movement

Donald Lee Hollowell (December 19, 1917 – December 27, 2004)[1] was an American civil rights attorney during the Civil Rights Movement, in the state of Georgia. He successfully sued to integrate Atlanta's public schools, Georgia colleges, universities and public transit, freed Martin Luther King Jr. from prison, and mentored civil rights attorneys (including Vernon Jordan and Horace Ward). The first black regional director of a federal agency (the EEOC), Hollowell is best remembered for his instrumental role in winning the desegregation of the University of Georgia in 1961. He is the subject of a 2010 documentary film, Donald L. Hollowell: Foot Soldier for Equal Justice.[2][3][4][5][6]

Biography

[edit]

Early years

[edit]

Donald Hollowell was born in Wichita, Kansas, and spent much of his childhood in Eureka, Kansas. He earned a high school diploma while serving six years in the U.S. Army's 10th Cavalry Regiment (the original Buffalo Soldier regiment). Although in Kansas and therefore not subject to the racist Jim Crow laws of the South, he faced blatant racism and discrimination while serving in the U.S. Army during World War II. Hollowell recounted that "army officials relegated him to eating in the kitchen, sleeping in quarters adjacent to prisoners, and patronizing Jim Crow canteens." Hollowell's experiences with racial segregation and discrimination and his involvement with the Southern Negro Youth Congress after the war inspired him to pursue the study of law to help in the fight for social justice.[7] In 1947, Hollowell graduated magna cum laude from Lane College in Jackson, Tennessee, and he earned his law degree from Loyola University Chicago School of Law in 1951.

[edit]

In 1952, Hollowell set up a law practice in Atlanta, Georgia, where he began to play a major role in the burgeoning civil rights struggle.[7]

Hollowell became well known for fighting racial segregation in the State of Georgia. Hollowell sued the University of Georgia, charging the institution with racist admission policies. The suit ended in 1961 with a federal court order demanding the admission of two African-American students, Charlayne Hunter and Hamilton E. Holmes.

In 1960, Hollowell and co-counsel Horace Ward won a victory in the Georgia Court of Appeals which secured the release of Martin Luther King Jr. from the Georgia State Prison. In another case, Hollowell and members of his firm prevented the execution of a 15-year-old black youth from Monticello, Georgia five days before it was scheduled to take place. Hollowell and civil rights champion C. B. King also defended Dr. 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 Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), a government agency that monitors workplace discrimination. This appointment made Hollowell the first black regional director of a major federal agency.[7] He remained with the EEOC for nearly 20 years. He also served as president of the Voter Education Project, where he helped increase the number of African-American voters from 3 million to 5.5 million.[7]

In 2002, the University of Georgia awarded Hollowell its honorary Doctor of Laws degree.[8]

Personal

[edit]

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

Hollowell was married to Louise T. Hollowell, a magna cum laude graduate of Morris Brown College and a distinguished Professor of English (Emeritus) at Morris Brown. In 1997, Louise Hollowell and Martin Lehfeldt authored a book titled The Sacred Call: A Tribute to Donald L. Hollowell—Civil Rights Champion, which chronicles Hollowell's service and achievements. The book also tells the love story of Donald and Louise Hollowell, who celebrated their 61st wedding anniversary in 2004.[7]

Attorney and Mrs. Hollowell had no children, but were the godparents to Dr. Albert J. H. Sloan, II, past President of Miles College (HBCU) outside of Birmingham, Alabama.

Death and legacy

[edit]

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

To honor him, the City of Atlanta renamed Bankhead Highway (U.S. 78) in his honor; Emory University named a professorship in his honor, as well. Hollowell is the subject of a 2010 documentary film, Donald L. Hollowell: Foot Soldier for Equal Justice, and a full-length biography published in 2013 by University of Georgia Press.[9]

Footnotes

[edit]
  1. ^ "Donald L Hollowell in Social Security Death Index".
  2. ^ obituary: "Donald L. Hollowell, 87, Lawyer Who Fought for Civil Rights", The New York Times, January 2, 2005; retrieved May 23, 2017.
  3. ^ Suggs, Ernie, Donald L. Hollowell Obituary: "Civil rights pioneer made friends, history", December 29, 2004, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Atlanta, Georgia, as transcribed at Legacy.com, retrieved May 23, 2017.
  4. ^ Associated Press (Atlanta, Ga.), "Wichita civil rights lawyer recalled" Archived 2017-07-22 at the Wayback Machine, January 2, 2005, Topeka Capital-Journal, retrieved May 23, 2017.
  5. ^ "Biography" (of Donald L. Hollowell), in Donald L. Hollowell Professorship, Office of Communications, Georgia School of Social Work at University of Georgia, retrieved May 23, 2017.
  6. ^ Crosby, Emilye, Tomiko Brown-Nagin, Charlayne Hunter-Gault; Polly J. Price, Kenneth W. Mack and Sarah H. Brown, as cited in (book)"Reviews:"Saving the Soul of Georgia: Donald L. Hollowell and the Struggle for Civil Rights, by Maurice C. Daniels (foreword by Vernon E. Jordan Jr.), University of Georgia Press, retrieved May 23, 2017.
  7. ^ a b c d e FSP Unsung Foot Soldiers.
  8. ^ UGA News Bureau
  9. ^ Polly J. Price, "Review: Saving the Soul of Georgia: Donald L. Hollowell and the Struggle for Civil Rights, by Maurice C. Daniels," Journal of American History, vol. 101, no. 4 (March 2015), pp. 1326–1327.

Further reading

[edit]
  • Maurice C. Daniels, Saving the Soul of Georgia: Donald L. Hollowell and the Struggle for Civil Rights. Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press, 2013.
[edit]