Judge Rivers Steps Down - Two New Officers Elected to Head NAACP Legal Defense Fund

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FOR RELEASE: AM EDITIONS 

JANUARY 15 

JUDGE RIVERS STEPS 

DOWN - TWO NEW OFFICERS 

ELECTED TO HEAD NAACP. 

LEGAL DEFENSE FUND 

New York, N.Y.--The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund Board 

of Directors announced today (Jan. 15) that William T. Coleman, Jr., 

distinguished black lawyer and partner in the Philadelphia law firm 

of Dilworth, Paxson, Kalish, Levy & Coleman, has been chosen to 

succeed the Honorable Francis E. Rivers as President of the Legal 

Defense Fund. 

The Board of Directors simultaneously announced the selection 

of Louis H. Pollak, former Dean of the Yale Law School, as vice 

president of the 3l-year old civil rights organization. That office 

had formerly been held by Mr. Coleman. 

Mr. Coleman, who graduated from the Harvard Law School magna 

cum laude in 1946, began his career as a law clerk to the late 

Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter. He is a member of the Board 

of Directors of Pan Am World Airways, and has served as a member of the 

Warren Commission which investigated the assassination of President 

Kennedy. He also helped to plan President Johnson's White House 

conference on civil rights, and most recently served as a U.S. 

delegate to the 24th Session of the United Nations General Assembly. 

In 1965, Mr. Coleman, at Governor Scranton's request, 

represented the State of Pennsylvania in the famous suit which opened 

Girard College (Philadelphia) to black students. 

Mr. Coleman, who has been a member of the LDF's Board since 1957, 

served as its vice president since April 1965. 

Louis H. Pollak, the newly elected vice president of the LDF, 

and Dean of the Yale Law School from 1965 to 1970 was designated 

Southmayd Professor of Law at Yale this year. 

(more) 

NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, Inc. | 10 Columbus Circle | New York, N.Y. 10019 | (212) 586-8397 

Fi is E. Ri President Jack Greenberg - Director-Counse! rrancis E. Rivers - 



Both he and Mr. Coleman received acclaim for their defense of 

Freedom Riders and sit-in demonstrators of the early 1960's. And 

together they won the landmark victory in McLaughlin v. Florida when 

the Supreme Court ruled that the state law prohibiting cohabitation 

between the races was unconstitutional. 

Since 1962 he has also been a member of the New Haven Board of 

Education and has often acted as a spokesman for that body in presenting 

the Board's position in controversial educational reform issues. 

Mr. Pollak received his LL.B. from the Yale Law School in 1948 

and was assistant to Ambassador-at-Large Phillip J. Jessup from 1951 

to 1953 before joining the faculty of Yale Law School as an assistant 

professor. He has been a member of the Board of the LDF since 1960. 

Justice Francis E. Rivers, who is retiring as president of the 

civil rights group, plans to continue his active participation, 

whenever required, as president-emeritus. 

During his five years of leadership, the LDF's budget has doubled, 

going from $1,700,000 in 1965 to over $3,000,000 last year, and the 

legal staff has quadrupled, enabling the Fund to vastly increase 

its case load. 

Numerous new programs were developed during Judge Rivers's 

administration, including the establishment of the National Office 

for the Rights of the Indigent which has its own budget of $3,000,000 

for 3 years; a lawyer intern program designed to train law graduates 

in the civil rights field and establish them in communities -- 

especially in the South -- where blacks have no legal representation; 

and the Herbert Lehman Education Fund, which provides undergraduate 

scholarships to young blacks entering previously segregated colleges 

and universities, thereby providing incentives for both students 

and institutions. 

Prior to his election to the presidency of the LDF, Judge Rivers 

served as vice president during the presidency of Allan Knight 

Chalmers and while Justice Thurgood Marshall was Director-Counsel 



of the organization. 

He also served as a judge of the Civil Court of New York for 20 

years, until he retired in 1963, and prior to that was a member of 

the New York State Assembly. 

Judge Rivers plans to continue active participation on the 

Boards of the New York Association for the Blind and Freedom House, 

as well as in professional matters. He currently conducts hearings 

for the Board of Education, the Waterfront Commission, the Office 

of Collective Bargaining, and the New York City Transit Authority. 

He received his LL.B. in 1922 from the Columbia Law School. 

Messrs. Coleman and Pollak will assume their new posts immediately. 

=30= 

NOTE: Please bear in mind that the LDF is a completely separate 
and distinct organization even though we were established by the 

NAACP and those initials are retained in our name. Our correct 
designation is NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. 
frequently shortened to LDF. 

For further information: Sandy O'Gorman, Public Information Department 
(212) 586-8397 or (212) 833-7441