South Newport News , Virginia — The American South (Mid-Atlantic)
Crusader for Legal Justice
W. Hale Thompson
1914 - 1966
Photographed by Devry Becker Jones (CC0), February 26, 2021
1. Crusader for Legal Justice Marker
Inscription.
Crusader for Legal Justice. W. Hale Thompson.
W. Hale Thompson desires to serve the people on city council because he believes that he can represent the interests of all Newport News citizens on an impartial basis. He wants to see that all people, regardless of color, have an equal opportunity to serve the city and that each shall reap equal benefits from the city government. He has ability and courage. He is honest and cannot be bought. He will do what is right for all the people. He will work for and fight for democratic principles. He will cooperate and work with other right thinking people for a better city, state and nation. , From 1956 city council campaign flier
, A Life of Accomplishment Born in June 1914 in Portsmouth, William hale Thompson was a graduate of Huntington High School and Hampton Institute, where he received a BS degree in 1940. In 1943 he earned a law degree from Howard University.
Setting up practice in his hometown, Thompson served the community as president of the Old Dominion and Peninsula Bar Associations, a member of the National and American Trial Lawyers Association, master of Hiram Lodge Masons, Zem Temple of Shriners, an Elk, Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, director of the national chapter of Hampton alumni, on the boards of the Community Building and Loan Association and Peninsula Coordinating Committee and was twice a candidate for city council. He successfully led efforts to relieve overcrowding in the city's segregated schools and gain jobs for blacks as shop clerks.
However, it was his role in scores of local civil right cases for which he is most remembered. As vice chairman of the Virginia NAACP's legal staff, he fought for the equalization of facilities in state counties and cities and numerous integration actions. Chief among these was his May 9, 1949 appeal to Newport News City Council to make the West Avenue Public Library available to all races. In response, Branch No. 1 was established for black citizens in the Dorie Miller Center. Not satisfied with this halfway measure, on March 27, 1950 he again petitioned city fathers to allow "unrestricted use" of the main library "for whites and Negroes." The city delayed a response until the Supreme Court had ruled on the constitutionality of discrimination of public facilities. Thompson sued the city and library board in federal court to open the library. The case dragged on several years with numerous postponements. On July 8, 1952, two days before the trial was to begin, the board of directors of Newport News Public Library, Inc. issued a statement that its main reading room would be available to all adult residents.
Thompson suffered a stroke a week before his death at the age of 51. His memorial service was held at his alma mater Hampton Institute; he is buried in the school's cemetery.
Tributes , To recognize Thompson's efforts to open city libraries, the meeting room of the Pearl Bailey Branch Library at 2510 Wickham Avenue, was dedicated in his honor on October 13, 2012.
The mural above was commissioned by the Newport News Economic Development Authority as a signature gateway piece into the Southeast Community. This location, 611 25th Street, was the site of Thompson's law office. A competition was held to select the artist. East End native Asa Jackson was chosen to create this special piece of public art. The painting was unveiled on February 10, 2018 by Mayor McKinley L. Price and other members of council.
W. Hale Thompson desires to serve the people on city council because he believes that he can represent the interests of all Newport News citizens on an impartial basis. He wants to see that all people, regardless of color, have an equal opportunity to serve the city and that each shall reap equal benefits from the city government. He has ability and courage. He is honest and cannot be bought. He will do what is right for all the people. He will work for and fight for democratic principles. He will cooperate and work with other right thinking people for a better city, state and nation.
From 1956 city council campaign flier
A Life of Accomplishment
Born in June 1914 in Portsmouth, William hale Thompson was a graduate of Huntington High School and Hampton Institute, where he received a BS degree in 1940. In 1943 he earned a law degree from Howard University.
Setting up practice in his hometown, Thompson served the community as president of the Old Dominion and Peninsula Bar Associations, a member of the National and American Trial Lawyers Association, master of Hiram Lodge Masons, Zem Temple of Shriners, an Elk, Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, director of the national chapter of Hampton alumni, on the boards of the Community Building & Loan Association and Peninsula
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Coordinating Committee and was twice a candidate for city council. He successfully led efforts to relieve overcrowding in the city's segregated schools and gain jobs for blacks as shop clerks.
However, it was his role in scores of local civil right cases for which he is most remembered. As vice chairman of the Virginia NAACP's legal staff, he fought for the equalization of facilities in state counties and cities and numerous integration actions. Chief among these was his May 9, 1949 appeal to Newport News City Council to make the West Avenue Public Library available to all races. In response, Branch No. 1 was established for black citizens in the Dorie Miller Center. Not satisfied with this halfway measure, on March 27, 1950 he again petitioned city fathers to allow "unrestricted use" of the main library "for whites and Negroes." The city delayed a response until the Supreme Court had ruled on the constitutionality of discrimination of public facilities. Thompson sued the city and library board in federal court to open the library. The case dragged on several years with numerous postponements. On July 8, 1952, two days before the trial was to begin, the board of directors of Newport News Public Library, Inc. issued a statement that its main reading room would be available to all adult residents.
Thompson suffered a stroke a week before his death at the age of 51. His
Photographed by Devry Becker Jones (CC0), February 26, 2021
2. Crusader for Legal Justice Marker and the mural of Thompson in context
memorial service was held at his alma mater Hampton Institute; he is buried in the school's cemetery.
Tributes To recognize Thompson's efforts to open city libraries, the meeting room of the Pearl Bailey Branch Library at 2510 Wickham Avenue, was dedicated in his honor on October 13, 2012.
The mural above was commissioned by the Newport News Economic Development Authority as a signature gateway piece into the Southeast Community. This location, 611 25th Street, was the site of Thompson's law office. A competition was held to select the artist. East End native Asa Jackson was chosen to create this special piece of public art. The painting was unveiled on February 10, 2018 by Mayor McKinley L. Price and other members of council.
Location. 36° 58.9′ N, 76° 25.248′ W. Marker is in Newport News, Virginia. It is in South Newport News. It is on 25th Street (U.S. 60) just east of Jefferson Avenue, on the right when traveling east. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 2500 Jefferson Ave, Newport News VA 23607, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is on Virginia’s Peninsula, in Hampton Roads, in Coastal Virginia, and in the Hampton Roads Metropolitan Area. It is also in the American South, specifically in the Upper South, and in the Tidewater. Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region, North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture, one of the original Thirteen Colonies, one of the Confederate States of America, and the Antebellum South.
Other nearby markers.
Photographed by Devry Becker Jones (CC0), February 26, 2021
3. The mural of W. Hale Thompson on the building to the immediate right of the marker
Credits. This page was last revised on February 1, 2023. It was originally submitted on February 27, 2021, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia. This page has been viewed 921 times since then and 56 times this year. Photos:1, 2, 3. submitted on February 27, 2021, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia.
