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"Just Like A Tree Planted By The Waters, I Shall Not Be Moved": Charles Ogletree, Jr., And The Plain Virtues Of Lawyering For Racial Equality, Emma Coleman Jordan

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

It was a moment of unbelievable risk, a precipice of career suicide, a decision that would challenge the careful planning of more timid lawyers. His wife urged caution; a Harvard colleague explored back channels with the Senate Judiciary Committee to telegraph warning to him of unseen torpedoes that might lie in his path. Even he hesitated in the face of the immediate demands of the substantial scholarly writing required to earn tenure at Harvard. Yet, at the end of the day of October 10, 1991, Charles Ogletree, Jr., known as "Tree" to his friends, chose to step into a role …