Julius LeVonne Chambers (1936 - 2013)

Born 6 Oct 1936 in Mount Gilead, Montgomery, North Carolina, United States

Ancestors

Died 2 Aug 2013 at age 76 in Charlotte, Mecklenburg, North Carolina

Problems/Questions Profile managers: L A Banta [send private message] and US Black Heritage Project WikiTree [send private message]

Julius Chambers is a part of US Black history. Join: US Black Heritage Project Discuss: black_heritage

Biography

Julius Chambers is Notable.

Julius LeVonne Chambers was an American lawyer, civil rights leader and educator whose law firm is credited with influencing more landmark state and federal legislation in school desegregation, employment and voting rights than any other in the United States .^[1]

Julius was born in 1936, to William and Matilda Chambers in Mt. Gilead, a small town in Montgomery County, North Carolina^[2]. He faced segregationist laws from birth. In college, Chambers served as student body president and graduated summa cum laude. He earned a master’s degree in history from the University of Michigan and a law degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Although he graduated first in his law school class of 1962, he could not attend the school’s celebratory banquet because of its location at a segregated country club. Chambers married Vivian Giles in 1960 and the couple had two children.^[3] He passed away in 2013^[4][5].

Legacy

Chambers became the first intern with the new NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund (LDF) in 1963. Subsequently, in June 1964, he opened his own practice in Charlotte, which eventually became the first integrated law firm in North Carolina. Together with his founding partners, James E. Ferguson II and Adam Stein, this firm is credited with influencing more landmark state and federal legislation in school desegregation, employment and voting rights than any other in the United States. Together with lawyers of the LDF, they helped shape civil rights law by winning benchmark United States Supreme Court rulings such as the famous decision of Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education (1971), which led to federally mandated busing, helping integrate public schools across the country. Chambers and his team also won in two of the Supreme Court’s most monumental Title VII employment discrimination decisions, Griggs v. Duke Power Co. (1971) and Albemarle Paper Co. v. Moody (1974)^[6].

• A statue honoring civil rights leader Julius Chambers was unveiled over the weekend along the Little Sugar Creek Greenway in midtown Charlotte. The bronze statue depicting Chambers is located at the main fountain in the section of the greenway off South Kings Drive. The statue was sculpted by acclaimed African-American artist Ed Hamilton. ^[7][8]
• A 4 mi (6.4 km) section of Interstate 85 in Charlotte, from Interstate 77 (Exit 38) to U.S. Highway 29 (Exit 42), was dedicated as the Julius Chambers Highway in 2018.

Sources

1. ↑ https://www.naacpldf.org/press/julius-levonne-chambers-in-memoriam/
2. ↑ "North Carolina, Department of Archives and History, Index to Vital Records, 1800-2000," database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:74G5-L3N2 : 3 September 2021), William Lee Chambers in entry for Julius Levonne Chambers, 1936; citing Birth, Montgomery, North Carolina, United States, North Carolina State Archives, Division of Archives and History, Raleigh; FHL microfilm 102170459.
3. ↑ Rozen-Wheeler, A. (2017, July 08). Julius L. Chambers (1936-2013). BlackPast.org. https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/chambers-julius-l-1936-2013/
4. ↑ "United States Social Security Death Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K14R-DQ4 : 12 January 2021), Julius L Chambers, 02 Aug 2013; citing U.S. Social Security Administration, Death Master File, database (Alexandria, Virginia: National Technical Information Service, ongoing).
5. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/173062410/julius-levonne-chambers: accessed 03 January 2023), memorial page for Julius Levonne Chambers (6 Oct 1936–2 Aug 2013), Find a Grave Memorial ID 173062410, citing Forest Lawn West Cemetery, Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, USA; Maintained by Find a Grave.
6. ↑ https://www.thehistorymakers.org/biography/julius-chambers-39
7. ↑ https://www.wfae.org/race-equity/2021-11-01/charlotte-civil-rights-leader-julius-chamber-honored-with-greenway-trail-of-history-statue
8. ↑ https://www.edhamiltonstudios.com/theworks.html

• https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_L._Chambers
• "United States, GenealogyBank Obituaries, Births, and Marriages 1980-2014," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVPG-4MBC : accessed 4 January 2023), Julius Chambers in entry for Mr William Lee Chambers, North Carolina, United States, 06 May 1989; from "Recent Newspaper Obituaries (1977 - Today)," database, GenealogyBank.com (http://www.genealogybank.com : 2014); citing Charlotte Observer, The, born-digital text.