Post Date: September 14, 2005

The Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice will hold its official launch at Harvard Law School on Thursday, September 15. Speeches and ceremonies will be webcast live. Click here between 8:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. on Thursday to watch.

The launch will honor the legacy of Houston, the attorney essential in planning the legal strategy of Brown v. Board of Education, and will lay out of the mission of the new institute, led by Professor Charles Ogletree.

“It is a distinct honor to serve as the founding director of an institute that will further the vision of racial justice and equality that was so well articulated by Charles Hamilton Houston,” Ogletree said.

The Houston Institute will conduct interdisciplinary research on issues such as voting rights, the future of affirmative action and the criminal justice system. Guests and speakers at the launch will include members of the Houston family, the legal team of Brown v. Board, Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, Howard Law School Dean Kurt Schmoke, Harvard University President Lawrence Summers, HLS Dean Elena Kagan, Professor Kenneth Mack, and Professor Cornell West of Princeton. The complete schedule of events is available on the website for this weekend’s Celebration of Black Alumni.