On Monday, September 27, the University of Chicago Law School unveiled an oil portrait of Earl B. Dickerson, the school’s first Black graduate and a colossus in law. 

The painting of Dickerson joined a collection of portraits adorning the main hall of the law school, including those of former U.S. Attorney General Edward Levi and prosecutor Bernard Meltzer. These portraits have accumulated as law school graduates have petitioned for the school to commission paintings of beloved law school professors. According to Law School Dean Thomas J. Miles, the portraits serve to “recognize an outstanding individual.” 

During his time at the Law School, Dickerson served as a lieutenant for the U.S. Army in WWI, delaying his graduation until 1920. As a civil rights attorney, Dickerson’s most famous case was the Supreme Court case Hansberry v. Lee, which changed the landscape of Chicago by allowing Black residents to live in the formerly segregated Woodlawn and Hyde Park neighborhoods. Lorraine Hansberry, a member of the Hansberry family, based her acclaimed play *A Raisin in the Sun* on her experiences in the case.

Read more at The Chicago Maroon