Julius L. Chambers

Julius Chambers
Julius Chambers
President of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund
	In office; 1984–1993
Preceded by	Jack Greenberg
Succeeded by	Elaine Jones
Personal details
Born	Julius LeVonne Chambers; October 6, 1936; University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (JD); Columbia University (LLM)

Julius LeVonne Chambers (October 6, 1936 – August 2, 2013) was an American lawyer,

civil rights

leader and educator.

Early life and education

Chambers grew up during the

NAACP Legal Defense Fund (LDF) in New York, having been selected by LDF's Director-Counsel Thurgood Marshall.^[3]

In June 1964, Chambers began a solo law practice in Charlotte, North Carolina. This firm eventually became the first integrated firm in North Carolina history. With fellow founding partners James E. Ferguson II and Adam Stein, along with lawyers from LDF, the firm successfully litigated a number of key cases before the Supreme Court of the United States that would help to shape evolving American civil rights laws, including: the school busing decision in Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education (1971); and two important Title VII employment discrimination cases Griggs v. Duke Power Co. (1971) and Albemarle Paper Co. v. Moody (1975).^[4]

The firm's efforts were met several times with violence from

Frederick Alexander (a Charlotte city councilman), and community activist Reginald Hawkins. No one was injured. The bombings received a great deal of national television and newspaper coverage, including an article in The New York Times. In February 1971, Chambers's downtown Charlotte law office was also firebombed.^[2]

Chambers reentered private law practice with this firm (now Ferguson Stein Chambers Adkins Gresham & Sumter PA) after he retired from his position as chancellor of North Carolina Central University on June 30, 2001.

NAACP Legal Defense Fund

In 1984, he left the Charlotte firm to again join the

voting rights, capital punishment, employment, housing and prisons. During this period, the LDF was perhaps best known for its work in defense of affirmative action

programs of the 1970s and 1980s.

Career as an educator

Chambers also had an active career as an educator. In 1993, he left New York (and his position with the LDF) to return to North Carolina in order to become the chancellor of his alma mater, North Carolina Central University. Under his administration, the University launched a $50 million capital fundraising campaign and established its first endowed chairs. He served as chancellor until June 30, 2001.

Chambers also served as lecturer or

Columbia University Law School (1984–1992), and University of Michigan Law School (1985–1992).^[5] He also served as the Charles Hamilton Houston

Distinguished Professor of Law at North Carolina Central University.

In his last years, Chambers was of counsel with Ferguson Stein Chambers Gresham & Sumter PA in Charlotte, while also serving as a clinical professor of law and director of the

UNC School of Law

.

Publications

Chambers authored or contributed to a number of important articles and books on civil rights law, including: "Beyond Affirmative Action" (1998), "Race and Equality: The Still Unfinished Business of the Warren Court," The Warren Court: A Retrospective (1996), "Afterward: Racial Equity and Full Citizenship, The Unfinished Agenda," African Americans and the Living Constitution (1996), "Black Americans and the Courts: Has the Clock Been Turned Back Permanently?," The State of Black America (1990), and "Adequate Education for All: A Right, An Achievable Goal" (1987).[6]

Politics

Chambers supported former North Carolina Senator John Edwards in the 2008 presidential election.^[7]

Personal life

Chambers was married to Vivian Giles Chambers and had two children, Derrick and Judy, and three grandchildren. He was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, of which he was initiated as an undergrad into the Gamma Beta chapter. His wife, Vivian, died in 2012. Chambers died on August 2, 2013, at the age of 76, after months of bad health. He was survived by two children, three grandchildren and a brother.^[8]

Julius Chambers Highway

A 4 mi (6.4 km) section of Interstate 85 in Charlotte, from Interstate 77 (Exit 38) to U.S. Highway 29 (Exit 42), was dedicated as the Julius Chambers Highway in 2018.