United States SCONRES 37: A concurrent resolution honoring the life and work of Louis Lorenzo Redding, whose lifelong dedication to civil rights and service stand as an example of leadership for all people.

Bill Text

III 
116THCONGRESS 
2
DSESSION 
S.  CON.  RES.  37 
Honoring  the  life  and  work  of  Louis  Lorenzo  Redding,  whose  lifelong  dedica-
tion  to  civil  rights  and  service  stand  as  an  example  of  leadership  for  
all people. 
IN  THE  SENATE  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  
FEBRUARY27, 2020 
Mr.  C
OONS(for  himself,  Mr.  RUBIO,  and  Mr.  CARPER)  submitted  the  fol-
lowing  concurrent  resolution;  which  was  referred  to  the  Committee  on  the  
Judiciary 
CONCURRENT  RESOLUTION  
Honoring  the  life  and  work  of  Louis  Lorenzo  Redding,  whose  
lifelong  dedication  to  civil  rights  and  service  stand  as  
an example of leadership for all people. 
Whereas  Louis  Lorenzo  Redding  (referred  to  in  this  preamble  
as  ‘‘Louis  L.  Redding’’)  was  born  on  October  25,  1901,  
in  Alexandria,  Virginia,  the  eldest  of  5  children  born  to  
Lewis Alfred and Mary Ann Holmes Redding; 
Whereas  Louis  L.  Redding  was  an  educator,  attorney,  and  
lifelong   activist   who   worked   on   civil   rights   and   edu-
cational issues; 
Whereas  Louis  L.  Redding  graduated  from  Howard  High  
School  in  1919,  which,  at  that  time,  was  the  only  public  
high  school  for  African-American  students  in  Delaware;  
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•SCON  37  IS  
Whereas  Louis  L.  Redding  received  a  bachelor’s  degree  from  
Brown University in 1923; 
Whereas,  while  at  Brown  University,  Louis  L.  Redding  and  
7 other men established a chapter of the Alpha Phi Alpha 
fraternity in Providence, Rhode Island; 
Whereas,  in  1923,  Louis  L.  Redding  was  the  first  African  
American  awarded  the  prestigious  William  Gaston  Prize  
for excellence in oratory and, as a result, delivered a com-
mencement speech at Brown University; 
Whereas  Louis  L.  Redding  became  an  English  instructor  and  
the   vice   principal   of   Fessenden   Academy   outside   of   
Ocala,  Florida,  the  oldest  continuously  operated  school  
originally for African-American students in Florida; 
Whereas  Louis  L.  Redding  left  Fessenden  Academy  to  teach  
English  in  the  high  school  division  of  Morehouse  College,  
a historically Black college in Atlanta, Georgia; 
Whereas, after 2 years of teaching, Louis L. Redding enrolled 
in Harvard Law School in 1925; 
Whereas,  in  1926,  as  a  law  student  at  Harvard  Law  School,  
Louis   L.   Redding   was   ejected   from   the   Wilmington,   
Delaware,  municipal  court  while  protesting  segregation  of  
the courtroom; 
Whereas  that  municipal  court  was  the  first  court  in  Wil-
mington, Delaware, to desegregate its gallery; 
Whereas  Louis  L.  Redding  graduated  from  Harvard  Law  
School  in  1928  as  the  only  African  American  in  a  class  
of about 200 students; 
Whereas,  in  1929,  Louis  L.  Redding  became  the  first  African  
American to pass the Delaware bar; 
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•SCON  37  IS  
Whereas  Louis  L.  Redding  remained  the  only  African-Amer-
ican lawyer in Delaware for 26 years; 
Whereas,  in  1949,  Louis  L.  Redding  was  admitted  to  the  
Delaware  Bar  Association,  an  organization  from  which  
Louis  L.  Redding  had  been  excluded  for  20  years  after  
having passed the Delaware bar; 
Whereas,  in  1950,  Louis  L.  Redding  and  Jack  Greenberg,  a  
lawyer  for  the  NAACP  Legal  Defense  and  Educational  
Fund,  filed  the  case  of  Parker  v.  University  of  Delaware  
to protest the segregated college system in Delaware; 
Whereas,  in  August  1950,  Chancellor  Collins  Seitz  ruled  in  
Parker  v.  University  of  Delaware,  75  A.2d  225  (Del.  Ch.  
1950),  that,  under  Plessy  v.  Ferguson,  163  U.S.  537  
(1896),  the  State  of  Delaware  violated  the  Constitution  
of  the  United  States  by  offering  a  separate  but  not  equal  
education in the State college and university system; 
Whereas,  in  1951,  Louis  L.  Redding  and  Jack  Greenberg  
filed— 
(1)  Belton  v.  Gebhart,  a  case  that  concerned  the  de-
segregation of high schools; and 
(2)  Bulah  v.  Gebhart,  a  case  that  concerned  the  de-
segregation of elementary schools; 
Whereas,  in  1952,  the  Belton  and  Bulah  cases  were  consoli-
dated   in   the   Delaware   Court   of   Chancery,   where,   in   
Belton  v.  Gebhart,  87  A.2d  862  (Del.  Ch.  1952),  Chan-
cellor  Collins  Seitz  ordered  the  Delaware  State  Board  of  
Education  to  open  all  schools  in  Delaware  to  African  
Americans; 
Whereas  the  Delaware  State  Board  of  Education  appealed  
the  decision  of  Chancellor  Collins  Seitz  to  the  Supreme  
Court  of  Delawa