Obituary & Updates — Remembering Charles Hamilton Houston Jr.

When: Thursday, August 9th at 6pm

Where: St. Vincent de Paul Church, 120 N Front St, Baltimore, MD 21202

What: A memorial service, followed by a reception.

Obituary

Historian Charles Hamilton Houston, Jr., the only child of legendary civil rights lawyer Charles Hamilton Houston, passed away peacefully on July 15, 2018 in Baltimore, Maryland from complications related to Parkinson’s disease. His father, Charles Hamilton Houston, engineered the multi-year legal strategy that led to the unanimous 1954 Supreme Court decision, Brown v. Board of Education, repudiating the doctrine of “separate but equal” schools for black and white children. Charles’ father, a former dean of Howard University Law School, the NAACP’s first special counsel and the first African American on the Harvard Law Review editorial board, was a brilliant man whose passion for justice and equality led him to quite literally work himself to death in the fight for civil and human rights when Charles was only six years old. Following the death of his father, Charles was raised by his mother Henrietta Houston and extended family in Washington, D.C.

Charles was born in Washington, DC, on March 20, 1944. After graduating from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, PA, he began his career in public affairs and communications. Over the years, his work in communications took him to Houston, Denver, and Pittsburgh with Gulf Oil and to Philadelphia in Mayor Wilson Goode's office.

In 1988, Charles changed his career path to pursue his ever-present intellectual curiosity by returning to school to study history. Always an academic at heart, Charles earned his Master’s degree from the University of Pittsburgh and pursued his doctoral studies at the University of Maryland, College Park. He taught as a lecturer in the Department of History and Geography at Morgan State University. His primary areas of study were American History and the advancement of social justice in the 1930s and 40s.

As a historian and before, Charles was a frontline advocate for examining and preserving his father’s role in American history. He was generous with his time and frequently spoke locally and nationally about the groundbreaking work and legacy of his father. In addition, he worked closely with institutions like Howard University, Harvard University, University of Maryland and others.

“We at the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice have a deep and enduring relationship with Charles Hamilton Houston, Jr. It goes so much further than a name. He and his wife, Rose, have been part of the Houston Institute family from the beginning and we have been blessed by his spirit, grace, generosity and integrity,” saidDavid Harris, Managing Director of the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice at Harvard Law School.“Joining us for so many of our events, Charles always brought a warmth and dignity thatembodied his father’s legacy. His smile was at once inviting and contagious and his comments always filled with insight. We will miss him terribly, but he will forever occupy a central place in our collective and individual memories.”

In 2010, Charles wasa co-founder of the Charles Hamilton Houston Scholars Program at the University of Baltimore Law School, which mentors underrepresented college freshmen and sophomore students interested in legal careers. “Through the program,dozens of students have beenintroduced to the law as an instrument of social reform as his father had envisioned,” said Jose Felipe Anderson, Professor at the University of Baltimore School of Law and author of Genius for Justice: Charles Hamilton Houston and the Reform of American Lawwith a foreward by Charles Hamilton Houston, Jr. (Academic Press,fall 2018). “Charles’ history of teaching,speeches, documentary film contributionsand commentary, established ascholarly legacy in his own right. It added a valuable perspective to the meaning of the civil rights movement to the children of the modern era of all races and backgrounds.”

Under Charles’ direction, papers and family heirlooms owned by his father have been donated to institutions spanning the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History exhibition and National Museum of African American History and Culture,Library of Congress, Howard Law School, Howard’s Spingarn Library and other organizations.

"The discovery and preservation of the Houston archives and papers have provided resources for researchers and historians that offer evidence of the intellectual processes of lawyers and professors committed to equal justice and the elimination of oppression based upon race,” said Genna Rae McNeil, Professor of History at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hilland the author of Groundwork: Charles Hamilton Houston and the Struggle for Civil Rights (University of Pennsylvania Press).“Such sources provide first-hand accounts of significant courage, sacrifice, and strategic action in the pre-Civil Rights Movement years during which the struggle movedtowardsgreater direct action in conjunction with use of the courts, despite wide-spread disfranchisement."

“I believe that my father worked to promote his dad’s legacy for tworeasons,” explained attorney Charles Hamilton Houston, III. “First, it was a way for him to better understand and feel closer to the father he lost when he was six years old. Second, promoting his dad’s legacy served to remind him that his father died forsomething larger than himself – or even his family.”

Charles was a gentle, loving man with a warm heart and kind words for everybody. He was a voracious reader with a wonderful sense of humor. He loved good conversation, a wide variety of music, his family, his friends and neighbors, and most of all, his dear wife Rose. Charles was a dedicated member of St. Vincent de Paul Church in Baltimore and remained active in the church until his health declined. Even then, he regularly received the eucharist at home from various members of his church family. He will be sorely missed by all.

From his first marriage to Clara Sue Wexler, he had two children of whom he was inordinately proud. In 1985, his life changed forever when he met scientist Rose Jagus in Pittsburgh. The couple spent the next 33 years living, laughing, traveling, reading, birding, and learning together.

Charles is survived by his wife Dr. Rosemary Jagus, daughter Dr. Caron Alexandra Houston, son, attorney Charles Hamilton Houston III, son-in-law Dr. Roger Mendis, daughter-in-law Jennifer Black Houston, and grandchildren Kamali Suzahn Houston, Miles Cole Houston Mendis, and Mattias Drew Houston Mendis.

Charles was cremated at a small private service. A memorial Mass will be held at 6 pm on August 9th at St. Vincent de Paul Church, located at 120 N. Front Street, Baltimore, MD 21202. All are welcome to attend and celebrate Charles’ life. In lieu of flowers, please consider making a tribute gift to The Parkinson’s Foundation in Charles’ name:http://parkinson.org/ways-to-give. Additionally, friends and family are invited to post their remembrances and photos at:www.charleshoustonjr.com