Donald L. Hollowell

Donald Lee Hollowell (December 19, 1917 – December 27, 2004) was an American civil rights attorney during the Civil Rights Movement, in the state of Georgia. He successfully sued to integrate Atlanta's public schools, Georgia colleges, universities and public transit, freed Martin Luther King Jr. from prison, and mentored civil rights attorneys (including Vernon Jordan and Horace Ward). The first black regional director of a federal agency (the EEOC), Hollowell is best remembered for his instrumental role in winning the desegregation of the University of Georgia in 1961. He is the subject of a 2010 documentary film, Donald L. Hollowell: Foot Soldier for Equal Justice.

Biography Early years

Donald Hollowell was born in Wichita, Kansas, and spent much of his childhood in Eureka, Kansas. He earned a high school diploma while serving six years in the U.S. Army's 10th Cavalry Regiment (the original Buffalo Soldier regiment). Although in Kansas and therefore not subject to the racist Jim Crow laws of the South, he faced blatant racism and discrimination while serving in the U.S. Army during World War II. Hollowell recounted that "army officials relegated him to eating in the kitchen, sleeping in quarters adjacent to prisoners, and patronizing Jim Crow canteens." Hollowell's experiences with racial segregation and discrimination and his involvement with the Southern Negro Youth Congress after the war inspired him to pursue the study of law to help in the fight for social justice. In 1947, Hollowell graduated magna cum laude from Lane College in Jackson, Tennessee, and he earned his law degree from Loyola University Chicago School of Law in 1951.

Legal career

In 1952, Hollowell set up a law practice in Atlanta, Georgia, where he began to play a major role in the burgeoning civil rights struggle.

Personal

Hollowell was a dedicated member of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity. In 1968, he received the Fraternity's highest honor, the Laurel Wreath Award, for his work in civil rights.

Hollowell was married to Louise T. Hollowell, a magna cum laude graduate of Morris Brown College and a distinguished Professor of English (Emeritus) at Morris Brown. In 1997, Louise Hollowell and Martin Lehfeldt authored a book titled The Sacred Call: A Tribute to Donald L. Hollowell—Civil Rights Champion, which chronicles Hollowell's service and achievements. The book also tells the love story of Donald and Louise Hollowell, who celebrated their 61st wedding anniversary in 2004.

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