Elizabeth Bartholet Oral History Interview

Hailing from New York, Elizabeth Bartholet studied law at Harvard before joining LDF as an attorney in 1968. She litigated civil rights cases in both the North and the South covering a variety of issues—from police brutality to school desegregation—and was part of the team that worked on Muhammad Ali’s Supreme Court case, Clay v. United States. After leaving LDF in 1972, she founded and directed the Legal Action Center, a public interest firm in New York City. In 1977, she transitioned to academia, serving as the Morris Wasserstein Public Interest Professor of Law and Faculty Director of the Child Advocacy Program at Harvard Law School.

Highlighted excerpt:

Elizabeth Bartholet reflects on the strategy behind LDF's anti-death penalty work

Full Interview

2024

Oral History

Elizabeth Bartholet Interview Transcript

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Elizabeth Bartholet interview for the Legal Defense Fund Oral History Project. Interviewed by Susie Penman on April 10, 2024 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Conducted in collaboration with the Southern Oral History Program at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.