Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas: Environmentalism and Oregon is the topic of the latest History Pub at the Kennedy School (5736 NE 33rd), on Monday, April 30, 2012.
Whitman College alumnus William O. Douglas was appointed to the Supreme Court of the United States in 1939 by Franklin Roosevelt. He served longer than any other justice in U.S. history, and is the only justice from the Pacific Northwest.
Douglas was a beacon for the preservation of wild places and individual freedom, by word and by example. The answer to society’s problems is more freedom, not less. This was the message he gave in countless speeches to citizens, not just the legal and academic world.
A New Deal insider and poker buddy of FDR he was seriously considered as his Vice Presidential running mate. Douglas also found time to author over 30 books in his lifetime. His career spanned events from the Great Depression to Watergate and was as controversial as it was prolific, four marriages and four impeachment attempts, also both records attest to that. Praise and criticism were constant companions to his work.
The film Liberty & Wilderness, a William O. Douglas film project, will be shown, followed by a discussion lead by the producer of the film, John Concillo, and Adam Sowards, Accociate Professor of History at the University of Idaho, and author of the book The Environmental Justice: William O. Douglas and American Conservation.
Join event co-sponsors Oregon Historical Society and Holy Names Heritage Center at 7pm Monday for a beer and history! Admission is free and this event is all ages.
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