| Donald Lee Hollowell | |
|---|---|
| Born | Wichita, Kansas |
| Died | Atlanta, Georgia |
| Occupation | Lawyer |
| Political movement | African-American Civil Rights Movement |
Donald Lee Hollowell (1917–2004) was a civil rights attorney in the U.S. state of Georgia.
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Donald Hollowell was born and raised in Wichita, Kansas, and earned a high school diploma while serving six years in the U.S. Army's 10th Cavalry Regiment (the original Buffalo Soldier regiment). Although in Kansas, Hollowell did not encounter the racist Jim Crow laws of the South, he faced blatant racism and discrimination while serving in the U.S. Army during World War II. Hollowell recounted that “army officials relegated him to eating in the kitchen, sleeping in quarters adjacent to prisoners, and patronizing Jim Crow canteens.” Hollowell’s experiences with racial segregation and discrimination and his involvement with the Southern Negro Youth Congress after the war inspired him to pursue the study of law to help in the fight for social justice.[1] In 1947, Hollowell graduated magna cum laude from Lane College in Jackson, Tennessee, and he earned his law degree from Loyola University Chicago School of Law in 1951.
In 1952, Hollowell set up a law practice in Atlanta, Georgia, where he began to play a major role in the burgeoning civil rights struggle.[1]
Hollowell became well known for fighting racial segregation in the State of Georgia. Hollowell sued the University of Georgia, charging the institution with racist admission policies. The suit ended in 1961 with a federal court order demanding the admission of two African American students, Charlayne Hunter and Hamilton E. Holmes.
In 1960, Hollowell and co-counsel Horace Ward won a victory in the Georgia Court of Appeals which secured the release of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. from the Georgia State Prison. In another case, Hollowell and members of his firm prevented the electrocution of a 15-year-old black youth from Monticello, Georgia, five days before the scheduled execution. Hollowell and civil rights champion C. B. King also defended Dr. King and hundreds of civil rights activists in the historic civil rights campaign in Albany, Georgia known as the Albany Movement.
In 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed Hollowell as regional director of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), a government agency that monitors workplace discrimination. This appointment made Hollowell the first black regional director of a major federal agency.[1] Hollowell remained with the EEOC for nearly 20 years. Hollowell also served as president of the Voter Education Project, where he helped increase the number of African-American voters from 3 million to 5.5 million.[1]
In 2002, the University of Georgia awarded Hollowell its honorary Doctor of Laws degree.[2]
Hollowell died on December 27, 2004 of heart failure. He was 87 years old.
To honor him, the City of Atlanta renamed Bankhead Highway (U.S. 78) in his honor; Emory University named a professorship in his honor, as well.
Hollowell was a dedicated member of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity. In 1968, he received the Fraternity's highest honor, the Laurel Wreath Award, for his work in civil rights.
Hollowell was married to Louise T. Hollowell, a magna cum laude graduate of Morris Brown College and a distinguished Professor of English (Emeritus) at Morris Brown. In 1997, Louise Hollowell and Martin Lehfeldt authored a book titled The Sacred Call: A Tribute to Donald L. Hollowell—Civil Rights Champion, which chronicles Hollowell's service and achievements. The book also tells the love story of Donald and Louise Hollowell, who celebrated their 61st wedding anniversary in 2004.[1]