Description

The son of a prominent Howard University law professor, Charles H. Houston attended Harvard University Law School, where he edited the Harvard Law Review, and graduated in 1922. Between 1929 and 1935, he served as vice dean of Howard University Law School. A member of the NAACP legal staff, he was the architect of numerous decisions striking down segregation in labor unions (1944), higher education (1938 and 1945), and housing (1948). His success in prosecuting those cases developed the strategy that led to the landmark Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education (1954), which declared that segregation in public schools was unconstitutional.The Harmon Foundation, a philanthropic organization based in New York City and active from (1922-1967) included this portrait in their exhibition “Portraits of Outstanding Americans of Negro Origins” which documented noteworthy African Americans’ contributions to the country. Modeling their goal of social equality, the Harmon sought portraits from an African-American artist, Laura Wheeler Waring and Euro-American artist, Betsy Graves Reyneau. The two painters followed the conventional codes of academic portraiture, seeking to convey their sitters extraordinary accomplishments. This painting, along with a variety of educational materials, toured nation-wide for ten years serving as a visual rebuttal to racism.Harmon Foundation; gift 1967 to NPG.

Record Contributed By

National Portrait Gallery

Record Harvested From

Smithsonian Institution