ABOUT
CHARLES OGLETREE

Charles’s early practice took him to the District of Columbia public defender’s office. He would later represent many notable figures but gained national prominence when he represented Anita Hill as she testified in the Senate hearings against the confirmation of Clarence Thomas to the U.S. Supreme Court. He appeared on many television shows such as Nightline, This Week with David Brinkley, the MacNeil/Lehrer Report and many more.
 

On the Vineyard he hosted a meet and greet for his friend, then-President Barack Obama, under a tent in his backyard during the summer before Obama began his campaign for a second term as president. This gathering of about 75 people was evidence of their close bond.
 

In 2005, Charles launched the Charles Hamilton Institute for Race and Justice at Harvard University. Ogletree and Harvard were paying homage to the brilliant litigator who crafted the legal strategy to attack discrimination leading to legal victories at the Supreme Court in the Shelley v. Kraemer case (1948) and the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka case (1954). Under Charles’s leadership, the institute hosted annual public forums at the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School every summer. These forums attracted national speakers from the entertainment, academic, cultural and legal sectors of society, packing in attendees for the programs.
 

Upon hearing that the public forums will be named after her husband, Pam Ogletree said, ”Wow! This is extraordinary! This sounds like a powerful series! I can’t thank all of you enough for all that you have done to make this series a reality and for naming it after Charles. We miss being on the Vineyard but our spirits are soaring, knowing that Charles has not been forgotten.”
 

Written by Oak Bluffs Town Columnist for The Vineyard Gazette, Richard L. Taylor