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Clarence M. Mitchell, Jr. (March 8, 1911 – March 19, 1984) was a civil rights activist and was the chief lobbyist for the NAACP for nearly 30 years.〔("The New Crisis" )〕 He also served as a regional director for the organization. Mitchell, nicknamed "the 101st U.S. Senator", waged a tireless campaign on Capitol Hill, helping to secure passage of civil rights legislation in the 1950s and 1960s: the Civil Rights Act of 1957, the Civil Rights Act of 1960, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Fair Housing Act (''Title VIII'' of the Civil Rights Act of 1968).〔("Clarence M. Mitchell, Jr. and family" ), Library of Congress〕 In 1969, he was awarded the Spingarn Medal by the NAACP for these efforts. Later he faced some criticism in the black community for supporting Daniel Patrick Moynihan (see then U.S. Assistant Secretary of Labor; controversy over the War on Poverty, later a noted U.S. Senator from New York) and defending the State of Israel. On June 9, 1980, he was presented with the "Presidential Medal of Freedom" by 39th President Jimmy Carter. After his retirement, Mitchell wrote a Sunday editorial column for ''The Baltimore Sun'' every Sunday until his death in 1984. ''The Sun'' called it "an extraordinary commentary on the civil rights movement." On March 23, 1984, the Sharp Street Memorial United Methodist Church overflowed with 2,500 mourners who gathered from around the country to pay their respects. Included among them was Harry Hughes (Governor of Maryland), William Donald Schaefer (Mayor of Baltimore and later Governor), Benjamin Hooks, director of the NAACP; and Dorothy Height, president of the National Council of Negro Women. The main city court house〔Courthouse Plan Mapped, Renovation Program Recommended To Mayor, ''Baltimore (Morning) Sun,'', November 6, 1946〕 in Baltimore City was renamed as the Clarence M. Mitchell, Jr. Courthouse in 1985 in his honor. Other facilities were also named for him. ==Early life and education== Mitchell was born in Baltimore, Maryland, to Clarence M. Mitchell, Sr., a waiter and Elsie (Davis) Mitchell, a homemaker. Mitchell's brother, Parren Mitchell, became a U.S. Congressman representing Maryland's 7th congressional district. Clarence Mitchell was raised in a large household consisting of 11 family members (him, along with his parents, his maternal grandparents, and six siblings.) One sibling died prior to Clarence's birth, and two died when he was young. According to the U.S. Census records in 1910;〔1910 Census, United States Bureau of the Census〕 His maternal grandparents lived with the family until their deaths in 1912 and 1913. The family moved frequently when Mitchell was young, living in rented homes in the same area of Baltimore City. In 1929 his parents purchased their own home at 712 Carrollton Avenue in Baltimore's Harlem Park neighborhood. Mitchell saw their hardships; his mother took in meal boarders to supplement his father's income from working at the historic Rennert Hotel on the northeastern corner of West Saratoga and North Liberty Streets. Mitchell's mother and the children attended church at St. Katherine's Episcopal Church, where Mitchell and his brother Parren served in the services on Sunday mornings. The family celebrated Christmas, his mother decorating the home. His parents kept things in good condition, with an orderly yard. Mitchell was taught by his parents not to "take anything from anyone" when it came to racial issues; the older children taught the younger children, too. Clarence spent time at the YMCA (Colored – Young Mens Christian Association) learning how to box, and earned the nickname "the Shamrock Kid." Mitchell excelled in his early childhood education and worked hard to learn lessons taught to him by his illiterate mother. When Mitchell was in elementary school, one of his teachers was the mother of Thurgood Marshall, future attorney and United States Supreme Court Justice. Mitchell worked many odd jobs throughout his childhood; from hauling ice and coal in a wagon for money, which he subsequently gave to his parents to support the household; to working with Thurgood Marshall and his father as a busboy at the Gibson Island Club.〔Denton L. Watson, ''Lion in the Lobby:Clarence Mitchell, Jr.'s Struggle for the Passage of Civil Rights Laws'', New York: Morrow Publishers, 1990〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Clarence M. Mitchell, Jr.」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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