LAW DAY 2013
Marvin Stephens Arrington – Civil Rights Pioneer
An Interview by Charles T. Lester, Jr.
Sutherland
CTL: Marvin where did you grow up? MSA: I grew up
in the Ashby Street/Simpson neighborhood on the outskirts
of Vine City. I attended E.R. Carter, English Avenue and
A.F. Herndon Elementary Schools. I took my certificate
of graduation from A.F. Herndon Elementary School. I
graduated from H.M. Turner High School in 1959.
CTL: You went to Clark College, now Clark Atlanta
University? MSA: Yes, I was fortunate to get a football
scholarship to Clark and to graduate in 1963.
CTL: The 1950s and 1960s were turbulent times for civil
rights in the South with demonstrations and sit-ins.
Were you involved? MSA: My football coach told us not
to get involved, and if we did and got arrested, we would
be on our own. Initially, I followed his direction, but in 1961
Lonnie King organized a march on the Georgia State
Capitol, and I decided to participate. The Chief of Atlanta’s
Police department, Herbert Jenkins, tried to talk us out of
going because of concern for our safety. The president of
Morehouse College, Benjamin E. Mays tried to talk Lonnie
King and other student leaders out of marching on the
State Capitol because he was concerned about students
being injured and he cared about our safety and wanted us
to take another approach. Dr. Mays asked Lonnie King if
he was ready to die, and Lonnie responded by saying that
he couldn’t speak for the entire group, but he was ready to
put his life on the line at any cost and stated further that he
thought that we could enjoy our rights like white Atlantans.
The group got Lonnie to concede in a change in route and
we marched from Mitchell Street by turning left at the old
C&S Bank Building; we never got to the Capitol building, as
we were diverted to Peachtree Street and Auburn Avenue
where we turned right into Big Bethel Church. My coach
later told me that while he did not approve of the student
demonstrations during football season that he was proud of
the students for taking the risk.
CTL: What did you do after you graduated from Clark
College? MSA: I had been admitted to Howard University
Law School in Washington, DC and worked during the
interim until I was able to put enough money in place for
tuition. An older brother, Joseph Arrington, who was living
in Washington, DC offered lodging and I rented from him. I
went off to law school in the fall of 1964.
CTL: How did you and Clarence Cooper get to Emory
Law School? MSA: In the summer of 1965 I was studying
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THE ATLANTA LAWYER
April 2013
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in the Emory Law School library when Ben Johnson
walked up to me and inquired why I was at the law school.
I identified myself as someone who had just completed my
freshman year at Howard University Law School, and I was
just using the library to study and to catch up for the next
semester. Dean Johnson invited me to his office, and after
a brief conversation, he asked if I would be interested in
transferring to Emory law school. I told him I did not think I
was interested because I was happy where I was at Howard
University. He later explained to me that if I attended Emory
he thought he could find some money for me. I went home
and thought about it and made a decision to give it a chance,
because I did not have sufficient finances for the next year
at Howard and probably would have had to drop out to drive
Judge Marvin Arrington at his February 16,
2012 Retirement Ceremony.
a taxi for income. I was concerned that I probably would
not have pursued my law degree with the same vigor as my
freshman year. I called Dean Johnson and accepted his
invitation for me to transfer to Emory University Law School.
I immediately called my friend, Clarence Cooper, who was
an undergraduate at Clark, and he, too, had completed his
freshman year at Howard and asked if he, too, would be
interested in attending Emory. He said he was happy where
he was, and he did not think they would accept him. I called
Dean Johnson back, and he assured me that Clarence
would be given admission consideration also. With that,
both Clarence and I went to the Dean’s office the following
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