The late Oliver White Hill (May 2007)
SUMMARY
The Oliver White Hill Foundation was established in October 2000 by Cabell Brand a philanthropist from Salem, Virginia and Clarence M. Dunnaville, Jr., a Richmond, Virginia attorney to continue the civil rights and public service legacy of Oliver White Hill. The Oliver White Hill Foundation, Inc., has been granted tax exempt status under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
The Charter Members of the Board of Trustees were Cabell Brand, Clarence M. Dunnaville, Jr., Norine Dunnaville, Oliver White Hill, Sr., Martin Jeffrey, Alice Roberts, Katherine Strickland and Esther Vassar. The mission of the Foundation as stated in its Mission Statement is “to continue the civil rights work of Oliver W. Hill and help establish as new generation of lawyers trained in the field of civil rights and civil liberties.”
The Oliver White Hill Foundation has received the continuous support of the Virginia Law Foundation since 2001. In keeping with its Mission, the Oliver White Hill Foundation has from its beginning sponsored law students as summer interns with the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. The Virginia Law Foundation has recently established a fund in honor of Mr. Hill to support internships for selected law students who are interested in public service and civil rights. The Virginia Law Foundation's Board of Directors designated an allocation from the Fund to support the first Virginia Law Foundation Oliver White Hill Internship Award which was announced at the 100th Birthday Celebration of Mr. Hill on May 4, 2007. Brian Wesley, a Howard University Law student was selected for the Award and served as an intern with the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, Inc., during the summer of 2007. The Oliver White Hill Foundation in partnership with the Virginia Law Foundation will sponsor law student internships for the summer of 2008 and beyond.
The Foundation held a 100th Birthday Celebration and Gala Fundraising event in Honor of Mr. Hill in May of 2007. The Honorable Timothy Kaine presided at the Gala which was attended by more than 1,000 people, including, five former Virginia Governors who attended (Governor A. Linwood Holton, Governor Charles Robb, Governor L. Douglass Wilder, Governor Gerald Baliles and Governor Mark Warner). Virginia's United States Senator, James Webb, Congressmen Bobby Scott and Eric Cantor, and many Judges, lawyers, public and corporate officials attended the event.
Current projects of the Oliver White Hill Foundation include: the publication and sale of the 100th Birthday edition of the Autobiography of Oliver White Hill (The original edition was published in 2000 and is out of print); the purchase and renovation of Mr. Hill’s boyhood home in Roanoke, Virginia with assistance from the City of Roanoke (the property is currently being renovated and will be utilized as a pro bono center legal services center, beginning in the fall of 2008 law school students will provide pro bono legal services at the center to citizens in Roanoke, Virginia); supporting the production of a documentary on Oliver W. Hill, which will focus on the accomplishments of Mr. Hill and his associates that contributed greatly to the nation. (These efforts, beginning in the 1930's, consisted of obtaining equal pay for teachers, ending legal segregation, seeking justice in the courts and changing attitudes regarding race, ethnicity, sex and religion). This work is not finished. It is the intention of the Oliver White Hill Foundation to be true to its Mission and continue the civil rights work of Oliver W. Hill, and to help establish a new generation of lawyers to carry on the legacy.