Book Talk with Dr. Marion Orr: House of Diggs
Join us for an important discussion about the life of one of the most influential black legislators in America through the biography written by Dr. Marion Orr , House of DiggsThe Rise and Fall of America's Most Consequential Black Congressman, Charles C. Diggs Jr. Dr. Orr will be in conversation with the honorable Judge Clifton Graves. Come learn with us!
More about the book:
At the height of the civil rights movement, Charles C. Diggs Jr. (1922–1998) was the consummate power broker. In a political career spanning 1951 to 1980, Diggs, Michigan’s first Black member of Congress, was the only federal official to attend the trial of Emmett Till’s killers, worked behind the scenes with Martin Luther King Jr., and founded the Congressional Black Caucus. He was also the chief architect of legislation that restored home rule to Washington, DC, and almost single-handedly ignited the American anti-apartheid movement in the 1960s.
Drawing on extensive archival research, including Diggs’s rarely seen personal papers, FBI documents, and original interviews with family members and political associates, political scientist Marion Orr reveals that Diggs practiced a politics of strategic moderation. Orr argues that this quiet approach was more effective than the militant race politics practiced by Adam Clayton Powell and more appealing than the conservative Chicago-style approach of William Dawson—two of Diggs’s better-known Black contemporaries.
Vividly written and deeply researched, House of Diggs is the first biography of Congressman Charles C. Diggs Jr., one of the most consequential Black federal legislators in US history. Congressman Diggs was a legislative lion whose unfortunate downfall punctuated his distinguished career and pushed him and his historic accomplishments out of sight. Now, for the first time, House of Diggs restores him to his much-deserved place in the history of American politics.
More about Dr. Orr:
Marion Orr is a political scientist and the inaugural Frederick Lippitt Professor of Public Policy at Brown University. An award-winning author, his work includes Black Social Capital: The Politics of School Reform in Baltimore. He was awarded the Biographers International Organization’s Francis “Frank” Rollin Fellowship for his work on Congressman Diggs.
More about Judge Graves:
The Hon. Clifton E. Graves, Jr. is a judge for the New Haven Probate Court (District 38) in New Haven County, Connecticut. He was elected to the bench on November 7, 2017.
Prior to his election, Graves was the manager of Project Fresh Start, the City of New Haven's program to help integrate formerly incarcerated individuals back into the community. He also spent time as the Community Grants Organizer for Toni Harp, the Mayor of New Haven (2014).
Graves earned a bachelor's degree from Tufts University in 1975. He then completed a J.D. at the Georgetown University Law Center in 1980.
After graduating from law school, Graves pursued a legal career that included eleven years as the Head of Diversity and Equity at Southern Connecticut State University. He was also a staff attorney for the Housing Authority of New Haven, and he performed two stints as an assistant corporation counsel for the New Haven Office of Corporation Counsel.
His memberships have included the boards of AIDS Interfaith Network, the NAACP, Community Mediation, and the Commission on Equal Opportunities.
Credit: https://trellis.law/judge/clifton.e.graves.jr