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Wednesday, December 02, 2009
Ind. Law - "Groundbreaking attorney retires: NW Ind. legal community will gather Thursday in Gary to honor Hilbert Bradley "
Lisa Deneal reports today in the Gary Post-Tribune in a long story - some quotes:
GARY -- When Hilbert L. Bradley returned to Indiana after being discharged from the Army, the World War II veteran decided he would take advantage of the G.I. Bill and apply for enrollment at Valparaiso University School of Law.It was 1947, a time when segregation was the unwritten "law." But Bradley received a surprise.
"They welcomed me right away," Bradley recalled. "And three years later, I was the first African-American graduate there."
Nearly 60 years later, Bradley, 89, is clearing out his last few cases and in two weeks will head to his retirement home in Naples, Fla., where he and his wife will be permanent residents.
But before he leaves for the Florida sun, members of the James C. Kimbrough Bar Association are throwing a retirement party Thursday in Bradley's honor.
"He is definitely deserving of this send-off," Trent A. McCain, president of the association said. "Mr. Bradley paved the way for myself and young attorneys in this area. We stand on the shoulders of this great man." * * *
In 1957, Bradley lobbied Congress for the passage of the Civil Rights Bill. He marched in the 1963 March on Washington with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Poor People's March on Washington in 1968.
Also in 1968, Bradley was appointed by then-Gary Mayor Richard G. Hatcher as corporation counsel for the city. During the 1960s, he founded the Fair Share Organization to advocate equal employment opportunities for blacks.
In 1987, Bradley founded the Indiana Coalition for Black Judicial Officials. Following protests on the steps of the Indiana Supreme Court, success evolved with the 1990 election of Bernard Carter as Lake Superior Court judge. Carter now serves as Lake County prosecutor.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on December 2, 2009 12:13 PM
Posted to Indiana Law