Story Archive

A longtime champion of voting rights, the 82nd Attorney General of the United States is working to end partisan gerrymandering across the U.S. 

The first Black professor at Columbia Law School was a scholar, a jazz musician, and a beloved mentor to a generation of students.

His pathbreaking career was nearly crushed by McCarthy-era ostracism, but Paul Robeson’s voice, in song and speech, continues to be heard in support of Black freedom.

A child of the Jim Crow South who became a civil rights activist, state senator, and the first Black federal judge in Alabama, Clemon is retired from the bench but continues to advocate tirelessly for justice and speak out fearlessly on public affairs.

After risking his life to desegregate Ole Miss in 1962, Meredith continued his activism at Columbia Law School.

First, Franklin A. Thomas, a 2020 Medal for Excellence honoree, worked to rebuild his old neighborhood through an innovative nonprofit agency. Then, he took on improving the world at the helm of powerful foundations.