Lack of encouragement never deterred me. I was the kind of person who would not be put down.

In high school, I discovered myself. I was interested in race relations and the legal profession. I read about Lincoln and that he believed the law to be the most difficult of professions.

When Thurgood Marshall became a lawyer, race relations in the United States were particularly bad.

The legal difference between the sit-ins and the Freedom Riders was significant.

Doing away with separate black colleges meets resistance from alumni and other blacks.

New Orleans may well have been the most liberal Deep South city in 1954 because of its large Creole population, the influence of the French, and its cosmopolitan atmosphere.