Justice William O. Douglas (1898 - 1980)

When Justice Douglas, a native of the central Washington city of Yakima, retired from the United States Supreme Court in 1975, he had served the court for 37 years, longer than any other Justice in history. Over half of the cases ever considered by the Supreme Court were heard while Justice Douglas held his seat.

In a 1969 newspaper interview, Justice Douglas was asked to name the single greatest problem facing the nation. He replied, "The disappearance of the university in the scholastic sense of the word." It is fitting that a college which promotes scholastic excellence should bear Douglas' name. Chief Justice Earl Warren said that Douglas possessed "the nearest thing to genius I've ever seen." This genius was coupled with curiosity and varied interests, many of which are reflected in his legal decisions. The Douglas Honors College encourages intellectual breadth, academic curiosity, and the fusion of scholarship and everyday life that Justice Douglas personified

The Life of William O. Douglas

1898 William Orville Douglas is born to the Reverend William and Julia Douglas in Maine, Minnesota, on October 16.
1901 Three year old "Orville" is stricken with polio. Family moves to Estrella, California.
1903 Family moves to Cleveland, Washington.
1904 Reverend Douglas dies. Family moves to Yakima.
1916 Graduates from Yakima High School as class valedictorian and is awarded a partial scholarship from Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington.
1920 Graduates Phi Beta Kappa from Whitman. Begins teaching English and Latin at Yakima High School.
1922 Enters Columbia Law School in New York City.
1923 Marries Mildred Riddle, a co-worker at Yakima High School.
1925 Graduates second in his class from Columbia. Begins professional career at Wall Street law firm of Cravath, deGersdorff, Swaine, and Wood. Teaches at Columbia on the side.
1926 Briefly returns to Yakima to practice law.
1927 Returns to New York to begin teaching full-time at Columbia Law School.
1928 Accepts a teaching position at Yale University.
1934 Accepts a position with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
1936 Appointed commissioner of the SEC.
1937 Appointed chairman of the SEC, replacing Joseph Kennedy.
1939 Appointed to United States Supreme Court by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to fill the position vacated by Justice Louis D. Brandeis.
1940 Considered by F.D.R. as vice-presidential nominee.
1941 Julia Douglas, his mother, dies.
1944 Again considered for vice-presidential nomination by F.D.R.
1948 Declines invitation of President Harry S. Truman to run for vice-president.
1949 Horseback-riding accident results in twenty three broken ribs and nearly ends Douglas' life.
1952 Considered for Democratic presidential nomination but refuses to run.
1953 Divorces Mildred.
1954 Marries Mercedes Hester Davidson.
Organizes 189-mile hike along the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal towpath to protest a proposed highway along the route; the hike is successful and highway plans are abandoned.
1958 Organizes hike along a secluded and pristine section of beach in Olympic National Park to protest a proposed roadway into the area; the hike is successful and plans are abandoned. Arthur Douglas, his brother, dies.
1963 Divorces Mercedes. Marries Joan Martin.
1966 Divorces Joan. Marries Cathleen Heffernan.
1970 An attempt to impeach Justice William O. Douglas is organized by Representative Gerald Ford.
1974 Suffers a stroke on December 31.
1975 Retires from the Supreme Court on November 12, after more than thirty-six years of service.
1980 Dies at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, on January 19.

William Douglas, the son of a Presbyterian minister, was born in Maine, Minnesota, on 6th October, 1898. The family moved to California but his father died soon afterwards. Douglas contracted polio as a child but escaped long-term paralysis.

After graduating from Whitman College he studied at Columbia University Law School where he edited the law review. In 1925 he joined a Wall Street law firm before teach law at Harvard University.

Franklin D. Roosevelt the Democratic Party candidate, was elected as president in 1932. Douglas was a supporter of Roosevelt's New Deal and in 1934 he joined the Securities and Exchange Commission. Three years later he became chairman of the commission.

When Louis Brandeis retired from the Supreme Court in February, 1939, Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed Douglas to take his place. At 40 years of age he was the second youngest Supreme Court justice in United States history.

After the Second World War Black was clearly associated with the group of liberals on the Supreme Court that included Hugo Black (1937-71), Felix Frankfurter (1939-1962), Frank Murphy (1940-1949) and Thurgood Marshall (1967-1991). As a justice he strongly supported African American civil rights and freedom of speech.

William Douglas, whose books included We the Judges (1956), A Living Bill of Rights (1961) and A Wilderness Bill of Rights (1965), who retired from the Supreme Court in 1975, died in Washington, on 19th January, 1980.

He claimed to be a descendant of Colin Douglass, one of the earliest Canadian settlers.