Paul Brest and Iris Brest Oral History
Paul Brest studied English at Swarthmore College, where he met his wife, Iris. He graduated from Harvard Law School in 1965 and worked for LDF’s Mississippi office from 1966 to 1968. He bolstered LDF’s efforts to combat segregation in schools and restaurants, unequal funding for municipal services, and employment discrimination. After his time at LDF, he clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice John M. Harlan and later became the Dean of Stanford Law School.
Iris Brest studied math at Swarthmore College, where she met her husband, Paul. After graduating from Harvard Law School in 1965, she joined LDF as an attorney and worked on desegregation cases out of the Jackson, Mississippi, office. Following her time at LDF, she worked in several in-house counsel roles, including 25 years at Stanford University as Associate General Counsel.
Highlighted excerpt:
Paul Brest and Iris Brest reflect on the fallacy of "freedom of choice" schools in Mississippi
Cite this item:
Paul and Iris Brest interview for the Legal Defense Fund Oral History Project. Interviewed by Gabriel Solís on October 13, 2023 in Palo Alto, California. Conducted in collaboration with the Southern Oral History Program at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
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