Gabrielle Kirk McDonald Oral History Interview

Gabrielle Kirk McDonald grew up on the East Coast, studying history at Boston University and Hunter College before receiving her law degree from Howard in 1966. She launched her meteoric career at LDF, where she worked to secure the first significant plaintiff victory under Title VII with Quarles and Briggs v. Philip Morris, Inc., among other historic cases. In 1979, she became the first Black woman to serve as a federal judge in the South. She later took to international judicial arbitration, and notably served on the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and the 2001 Iran-United States Claims Tribunal.

Highlighted excerpt:

Gabrielle Kirk McDonald speaks on what it means to be a civil rights lawyer

Full Interview

2024

Oral History

Gabrielle Kirk McDonald Interview Transcript

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Gabrielle Kirk McDonald interview for the Legal Defense Fund Oral History Project. Interviewed by Susie Penman on March 22, 2024 in McLean, Virginia. Conducted in collaboration with the Southern Oral History Program at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.