One of Delaware’s civil rights activists is being honored by an institution he once fought.
The University of Delaware officially dedicated its newest residence hall next to the Harrington turf in honor of Civil Rights lawyer Louis L. Redding.
Redding was born in Wilmington in 1901. Unable to attend UD, Redding got his undergraduate degree from Brown University and later his law degree from Harvard in 1928.
After much debate over his race, Redding the first African-American to pass the Delaware bar. From there, much of Redding’s five decade law career concentrated on discrimination in schools
In 1950, he fought for 10 African-American students who couldn’t get into the University of Delaware due to their race. ?Redding won the case, making UD the first publicly funded school to desegregate by court order.
In 1951, Redding filed two cases, Belton v. Gebhart and Bulah v. Gebhart, regarding high school education. These two cases would be consolidated with 4 others to form the Brown v. Board of Education case, in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1954 that “Separate education facilities are inherently unequal."
But UD Professor of Psychology and Black American Studies James Jones recalled that Redding said that his career took him where ever there was discrimination.
“It is important to note that Mr. Redding’s impact, as profoundly as important as it was in the school cases, extended beyond schools to challenge discrimination in housing, employment, criminal justice, and public accommodations,” said Jones. “The beneficiaries were not only African Americans but anyone to whom justice was denied.”
Jones also noted how much Redding’s legacy has impacted UD’s campus.
“From the single digit numbers of African American students in the early 1950s, we now count 2,459 students of color on our campus,” said Jones. “In the 2013 freshman class, fully 24 percent are students of color.”
However, Jones stressed that we cannot be completely satisfied with where we are.
“We are not where we want to or need to be with diversity on this campus, but we’ve come a very long way,” said Jones
Stefan Redding, Louis Redding’s grandson, echoed Jones’ sentiments when reflecting on his grandfather’s legacy.
“He opened a door for us, but we have not yet walked through,” said Redding. “To truly honor that legacy, we cannot just reflect on what he accomplished, we must reflect on how we can bring to bear his vision of equality of opportunity for all.”
Also dedicated today was the adjacent Eliphalet Gilbert Residence Hall. Gilbert was the first president and third president of the University of Delaware (1834-1835 and 1840-1847, respectively), then known as Newark College.