America and the Courts
Sep 23, 2004
Follow Similar ProgramsAt a dinner at the National Constitution Center, the 2004 We The People Award was given to William T. Coleman, Jr. for his lifetime achievement in civic engagement. The award was presented by Supreme Court Justice .. Read More
At a dinner at the National Constitution Center, the 2004 We The People Award was given to William T. Coleman, Jr. for his lifetime achievement in civic engagement. The award was presented by Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia with an introduction by Peter Jennings.
The We The People Award was created in 1996 to honor individuals who best exemplify the qualities of active citizenship envisioned by our nation’s Founding Fathers and who have made noteworthy contributions to constitutional principles.
A graduate of Harvard Law School and senior counselor at the law firm O’Melveny and Myers, William T. Coleman, Jr. was the Secretary of Transportation from 1975 to 1977, in the Ford administration. He was the first African-American selected as a Supreme Court law clerk when he served Justice Felix Frankfurter in the 1948-1949 term. In the 1950s, he worked on a number of landmark civil rights cases while working part-time for the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, co-authoring the Supreme Court brief in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka. Mr. Coleman received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Bill Clinton in 1995.
The We The People Award was created in 1996 to honor individuals who best exemplify the qualities of active citizenship envisioned by our nation’s Founding Fathers and who have made noteworthy contributions to constitutional principles.
A graduate of Harvard Law School and senior counselor at the law firm O’Melveny and Myers, William T. Coleman, Jr. was the Secretary of Transportation from 1975 to 1977, in the Ford administration. He was the first African-American selected as a Supreme Court law clerk when he served Justice Felix Frankfurter in the 1948-1949 term. In the 1950s, he worked on a number of landmark civil rights cases while working part-time for the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, co-authoring the Supreme Court brief in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka. Mr. Coleman received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Bill Clinton in 1995.
