The Atlanta Lawyer April 2013 | Page 18

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 18 THE ATLANTA LAWYER April 2013 [email protected] 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 The Official News Publication of the Atlanta Bar Association