Hastie, William Henry (1904–76)

Civil Rights Lawyer, Educator, Federal Judge

African American attorney and educator William Henry Hastie devoted his life and career to ending segregation and discrimination in American society. Together with his cousin Charles Houston (who, like Hastie, had been dean of the Howard University Law School), and their student, future Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, Hastie devised and executed the legal strategy used by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to chip away at legalized segregation and discrimination in the 1930s and 1940s, thereby laying the groundwork for the group's ultimate victory in the landmark Supreme Court case, Brown v. Board of Education (1954).

[Page 343]As a law professor at Howard University, Hastie trained a cadre of civil rights lawyers who shared his vision and carried on his work. As assistant solicitor in the Interior Department and later as a federal judge in and governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands, he worked to end segregation there and prepare the residents for self-rule. Even his failure to convince the U.S. military of its need to desegregate during World War II furthered his goal of bringing racial equality to national attention.

Born in Knoxville, Tennessee, on November 17, 1904, Hastie was educated at Amherst College and Harvard University Law School. Thereafter, he practiced law in Washington, D.C., and taught at Howard University Law School, then one of the principle centers of civil rights activism in America. He also joined the NAACP's legal team and, with Houston and Marshall, chose, prepared, and argued the group's first desegregation and discrimination cases.

In 1933 Hastie was named assistant solicitor in the Department of the Interior, where he handled such issues as Native American oil rights, federal support for vocational education, and employment discrimination against African Americans. His most enduring achievement at the department, however, was his work on legislation that included a new, more democratic constitution for the U.S. Virgin Islands. Hastie's efforts brought him to the attention of Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt, and he joined FDR's “black cabinet”—a group of African American federal officials who informally advised the president on racial matters.

In 1937 Roosevelt appointed Hastie to a four-year term as a federal judge in the Virgin Islands. Although he served only two years, Hastie had considerable impact on the islands’ political and social culture by encouraging the formation of a broad-based political party, the protection of civil liberties, and an end to discrimination.

Hastie resigned in 1939 to become dean of Howard University Law School, but in 1940 he took a leave of absence when Roosevelt appointed him civilian aide to Sec. of War Henry Stimson. Initially, Hastie resisted the high-level appointment because he knew his success at ending segregation in the military would be limited, given the racist attitudes of many in the armed forces. However, he ultimately agreed to serve because he believed that any effort to end segregation at home would help defeat fascism abroad.

As Hastie suspected, his tenure was difficult, and many of his initiatives were thwarted. Sometimes he was deliberately misled or denied access to information about the ways blacks in the military were treated. He persisted, however, in opposing plans to segregate housing and dining facilities, supporting officer training for African Americans, and protesting unwarranted disciplinary and legal actions meted out to African Americans in service. Hastie did win some victories. Thanks to his efforts, more African Americans joined the Army, more were trained in integrated schools, and more African American units were formed.

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