To begin, Professor Ogletree asks Judge Robert L. Carter to explain how he became involved with civil rights law after
graduating from Howard Law School. After much academic success and encouragement, Judge Carter received his masters degree from Columbia
in 1941 and became concerned with the extent to which the First Amendment was necessary for the maintenance of democracy. After being
drafted in the army, he faced terrible racism and discrimination, causing him to change his course. "When I came out of the army, I said,
'no more First Amendment'; I’d rather fight discrimination." By 1945, he was directed to the NAACP, and this move propelled his career.
Professor Ogletree changes the discussion topic to Thurgood Marshall, turning to Oliver Hill to remind the audience of
how he met Mr. Marshall and what it was like being at Howard Law School with Charles Hamilton Houston. Mr. Hill explains that he had
wanted to take a case to the Supreme Court regarding racial injustice, and that this motivated him to become a lawyer. When he arrived
at Howard Law School in 1930, Charles Hamilton Houston had already been employed and wanted to turn the school into a "full-time day
school with full-time faculty" as opposed to an evening school without steady permanent residents.
Aside from Charles Hamilton Houston (who had the honor being the first African American editor on the Harvard Law Review
and the first African American to receive his Ph.D. from Howard), the school was populated by other impressive presences, such as
Thurgood Marshall. Hill describes Marshall as a man who shared his own ambitions. After they both graduated, Hill began practicing law
in 1934. As they were attempting to determine how best to eliminate segregation, Charles Hamilton Houston asserted, "what we ought to do is challenge it at its weakest point."
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