User:Bobby H. Caldwell

Bobby Hugh Caldwell: The People's Lawyer (March 12, 1934 - January 11, 2023)
Notable civil rights attorney and activist Bobby H. Caldwell was born in Dallas, Texas to Robert and Carrie Holmes Caldwell. He graduated from Booker T. Washington High School, one of two schools for Coloreds, and later earned a law degree from Texas Southern University in Houston, Texas in 1957. After passing the bar in 1962 with a 78 (he only needed a 74), Caldwell spent more than 50 years in the courtroom. He gained national attention for overturning Lee Otis Johnson's 30-year sentence for one marijuana cigarette in the 1960s. However, it was seeing the legalization of marijuana move across the country and President Joe Biden release a Proclamation on Marijuana Possession on October 6, 2022 that solidified his role in America.

Regarded as the "People's Lawyer," Caldwell successfully defended civil and human rights activists, including members of the TSU-5, Houston's People's Party II, and Houston's Black Panther Party. He remains relevant, as he stayed at the forefront of significant racially and politically motivated criminal cases during the Civil Rights Movement.

In The People's Lawyer, Bobby H. Caldwell gives a behind-the-scenes look at what radical representation, of an underrepresented people, at one of the most revolutionary times of the nation's history revealed. Caldwell has received national awards and recognition for his historic contributions to civil rights, including the Black Panther Lifetime Achievement Award, the NAACP Image Award, and countless others. He continued to serve his community through his involvement with the Washington-Lincoln Alumni Association (WLAA) Houston. For additional information, please visit www.bobbyhcaldwell.com.

 Interviews & Archives :

Caldwell, Bobby - Houston Oral History Project - Gregory School Interviews - Houston Public Library Digital Archives, January 15, 2010

Caldwell, Bobby - Oral History Interview - The Portal to Texas History, June 29, 2016