City Council Member Darius Brown and the Redding House Foundation Celebrate Civil Rights Icon Louis L. Redding, Esq.
A ceremony to unveil an historical marker for Attorney Redding is held at the current site of the Redding family home on 11th Street on the East Side
Third District Wilmington City Council Member Darius Brown, as part of an ongoing campaign to increase the public’s awareness of the historical significance of East Side Wilmington, today hosted an event to commemorate the unveiling of another in a series of historical markers. Today’s event, which was coordinated through the Redding House Foundation, Inc., honors Delaware’s first African-American attorney and civil rights and education equality icon Louis L. Redding.
The unveiling was held at the site of the Redding family home on East 11th Street in East Side Wilmington. Lawyer Redding, as he was known in Delaware, fought for the civil rights and liberties of African-American Delawareans and represented plaintiffs in two Delaware court cases that challenged segregation in Delaware’s public school system.
“This historical plaque is very special, as are all of the completed and planned East Side markers, because another portion of the rich history of the local African-American community is being officially commemorated and honored,” said Council Member Brown. “Louis L. Redding is the reason why I and many other African-Americans have had more opportunities to achieve our goals than we could ever have imagined. I am indebted to Mr. Redding as are countless other people around our state and nation. He helped us become more open-minded, understanding and caring toward our fellow human beings, and he did so in the face of ingrained discrimination and societal scorn. He was a remarkable person with a very supporting family.”
Dr. Alton A. Williams is the President of the Redding House Foundation’s Board of Directors which has worked tirelessly to preserve the Redding property itself as well as the achievements of the entire Redding family. “Our mission is to provide a space and a forum that brings remembrance to the Redding family and to the history of the African-American community as part of the State’s history,” said Dr. Williams. “We strive to educate everyone, especially the young, about the trailblazing nature of what the Redding family accomplished as embodied in the work of Louis to secure an integrated and fair society where the “separate but equal” doctrine has no place.”
The following is the inscription on the historic marker which honors the life and achievements of Louis L. Redding:
Louis Lorenzo Redding, Esq. First African-American Attorney in Delaware
(Born, October 25, 1901 – Died, September 28, 1998)
Louis L. Redding was born in Alexandria, Virginia and relocated to 203 E 10th Street in Wilmington, Delaware. Redding graduated from Howard High School in 1919 and with honors from Brown University in 1923. After college, Redding taught in Florida, and at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia. In 1925, Redding entered Harvard Law School, becoming the only African-American in Harvard Law’s 1928 graduating class. He was admitted to the Delaware bar in 1929, becoming the first African-American lawyer in Delaware. In 57 years practicing law, Redding handled cases that successfully challenged segregation and discrimination in housing, public accommodations, employment, and the criminal justice system.
His major cases included the 1950 Parker v. the University of Delaware, which made the University of Delaware the first state-funded undergraduate institution required to desegregate by court order. Redding successfully argued Burton v. Wilmington Parking Authority before the US Supreme Court in 1961 which held that segregation in public accommodations was not permissible.
His landmark case was Gebhart v. Belton, which was combined with cases from three other states and the District of Columbia to become part of the landmark 1954 U.S. Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education which changed Federal public policy regarding “separate but equal” forever.
Council Member Brown has collaborated in recent years with the City Planning Department to identify and commemorate more than 50 people and/or sites in East Side Wilmington as part of an historic legacy to promote peace, freedom, equality and understanding.
Brown said individuals and institutions still to be honored include Herman Holloway, Sr., who in 1964 was elected Delaware’s first African-American State Senator; William “Dutch” H. Burton, a former Member of Wilmington City Council who in 1961 successfully challenged the refusal of a local restaurant to serve African-Americans; James H. Sills, Jr., who in 1992 became Wilmington’s first African-American Mayor; Hattie Phalen, who in 1969 became the first African-American women to be elected to Wilmington City Council; Henrietta Johnson, who in 1973 became the first African-American women to be elected to Delaware House of Representatives; Paul Franklin Livingston, who in 1952 became the first African-American Democrat to be elected to the Delaware House of Representatives; Peoples Settlement Association and its founder Sarah Webb Pyle who devoted more than 50 years of her life and the facility’s attention and programming to the children of the East side of Wilmington; and Bell Funeral Home, a business owned by Edward R. Bell and his family which served the community for over 75 years.
Agenda for today’s ceremony:
- Host, 3rd District Council Member Darius Brown, welcome
- Reverend J.B. Redding (Louis L. Redding’s daughter), opening prayer
- Dr. Alton A. Williams, President, Redding House Foundation Board of Directors
- Leonard Sophrin, City Planning Director
- Pat Maley, Senior City Planner of Design and Review
- Reverend J.B. Redding for closing comments
- Unveiling of the historic marker
For more information about this news release, contact:
John Rago
Communications and Policy Development Director
Wilmington City Council
Phone: (302) 576-2149
Mobile: (302) 420-7928
Email: jrago@WilmingtonDE.gov