Stories
Finding deeper connections within the inspiring stories of the past.
Voter Suppression Playbook: Tactics from the 1980s Recycled to Silence Black Votes
November 01, 2024
Attacks on voting rights are not new. Explore one fight against voter suppression from the archives and learn about LDF’s current work to support voters.
Chisom v. Roemer: Extending Voting Rights to Judicial Elections
October 28, 2024
The landmark LDF victory that helped put Black justices on the Louisiana Supreme Court.
Lani Guinier: The Civil Rights Litigator Who “Dared to Be Powerful”
September 23, 2024
The LDF voting rights lawyer who survived a stinging political defeat and became the first tenured Black woman at Harvard Law School.
In Memoriam: Professor Lani Guinier Tribute by Sherrilyn Ifill
September 04, 2024
In Memoriam: Professor Lani Guinier Tribute by Sherrilyn Ifill.
Maggie Bozeman and Julia Wilder: Advocates Jailed for Assisting Elderly Black Voters in Alabama
August 11, 2024
The story of two Black female advocates whose imprisonment inspired a grassroots effort to extend and amend the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
G.K. Butterfield: From Grassroots Protests, to the Courtroom, to Congress
August 05, 2024
The longtime congressman discusses his life spent reversing North Carolina’s racist voting procedures.
Sylvia Drew Ivie: Connecting Civil Rights and Health Care
August 05, 2024
The former attorney for the Legal Defense Fund used her skills in civil rights litigation to advocate for health care rights for the underprivileged.
Thornburg v. Gingles: The Redistricting Case that Gave Black Voters a Say in Elections
June 05, 2024
The 1985 landmark LDF case that challenged discriminatory legislative districting and advanced equal participation for Black voters.
Ted Shaw: Courtroom Warrior for Civil Rights
June 05, 2024
The fifth Director-Counsel and President of the Legal Defense Fund from 2004 to 2008 recalls his lifelong experience in the Civil Rights Movement and fulfilling his dream as a litigator at LDF.
Harvey Gantt: From Desegregating Clemson to Becoming Charlotte’s First Black Mayor
June 05, 2024
Civil rights pioneer Harvey Gantt reflects on his fight to desegregate Clemson and his campaign against U.S. Senator Jesse Helms.
Major v. Treen: Combatting Black Voter Dilution in Louisiana
June 05, 2024
The 1983 case that led to Louisiana’s first majority-Black district.
Jack Boger: A Life of Fighting Against the Death Penalty
June 05, 2024
A former Director of LDF’s Capital Punishment Program reflects on arguing against the death penalty before the Supreme Court.
James Ferguson: Advocating for Civil Rights Inside and Outside of the Courtroom
June 05, 2024
A civil rights and criminal lawyer shares his experience fighting segregation for over six decades.
Michael Meltsner: A Fighter for Justice
June 05, 2024
The second white lawyer at LDF spurned Wall Street law firms to become an advocate for civil rights.
