Melvyn R. Leventhal facts for kids

Melvyn Rosenman Leventhal, born on March 18, 1943, is an American lawyer. He is well-known for his important work as a community organizer and lawyer during the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s and 1970s. From 1969 to 1974, he was the main lawyer for the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc. in Mississippi. After that, he worked as a staff attorney in their New York offices until 1978.

He married the famous author Alice Walker in New York City in 1967. When they moved to Mississippi, they were known as the first legally married interracial couple in that state. They have a daughter named Rebecca Walker.

Growing Up and School

Melvyn Leventhal grew up in Brooklyn, New York City. He went to an elementary school called a yeshiva and later attended Brooklyn Technical High School. When he was nine years old, his parents divorced. He and his siblings were separated, with his older brother living with their father and the younger children staying with their mother.

Leventhal remembered that he did not see his father very often after the divorce. He once tried to visit his father with a younger sibling, but his father "slammed the door in our face."

During his younger years, Leventhal was greatly inspired by the Jewish faith's focus on helping others. He especially remembered being "outraged and disgusted" by how people treated Jackie Robinson. Robinson was the first African American to play in a major league baseball team.

This experience made him want to fight against unfairness. To do this, he decided to go to law school. He earned his first degree from New York University's Washington Square College in 1964. He then received his law degree, called a J.D., from New York University School of Law in 1967.

Early Work and Marriage

As a young lawyer, Melvyn Leventhal worked in Mississippi for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund (LDF). Through this work, he helped create the first law partnership in Mississippi that included both Black and white lawyers. His partners were Reuben V. Anderson, Fred L. Banks Jr., and John A. Nichols. Anderson and Banks later became the first two African-American judges on the Mississippi Supreme Court.

Through his work, Leventhal met the writer Alice Walker. She came to trust and respect him because he was willing to risk his own safety and social standing to fight against unfairness. On March 17, 1967, Leventhal and Walker got married in New York. Their wedding was a civil ceremony led by Judge Justine W. Polier. At that time, it was illegal for people of different races to marry in Walker's home state of Georgia.

When the couple moved to Mississippi in July 1967, they were the first legally married interracial couple in the state. Walker and Leventhal have one child, Rebecca Walker. They later divorced in New York in 1977.

Fighting for Civil Rights

While he was in law school, Leventhal volunteered at the LDF offices in Jackson, Mississippi. He was supervised by the activist Marian Wright Edelman. He also worked as a helper for Martin Luther King Jr. during the Meredith March Against Fear in June 1966. This march went from Memphis, Tennessee, to Jackson, Mississippi.

From 1969 to 1974, Leventhal was the lead lawyer for LDF in Mississippi. He represented people in about 75 lawsuits across the state. These lawsuits challenged unfair treatment and separation based on race in many areas. This included public schools, jobs, public places, housing, and city services like street paving and fire protection. He helped make sure that federal civil rights laws, passed in 1964 and 1965, were followed. He also worked to end school segregation, which was the separation of students by race.

Leventhal and Walker moved back to New York in 1974. There, he continued to work for LDF as a staff attorney. He handled cases from Mississippi and other states. His ten years at the LDF included work on four very important court cases:

• Alexander v. Holmes County Board of Education (1969): In this case, the Supreme Court of the United States ordered school districts to end segregation "at once." This changed earlier decisions from 1954-1955 that allowed schools to desegregate slowly.
• Norwood v. Harrison (1973): The Supreme Court decided that states could not give textbooks to private schools that treated students differently based on their race.
• Hawkins v. Town of Shaw (1971): This case, decided by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, supported lawsuits that challenged unfair treatment in city services based on race.
• Loewen v Turnipseed (1980): With another lawyer, Frank R. Parker, Leventhal helped win this case. The court ordered Mississippi's Textbook Purchasing Board to approve a new textbook for a required history class. This book, called Conflict & Change, gave a fair view of race relations in Mississippi.

Leventhal also spoke to the U.S. Senate's Select Committee on Equal Educational Opportunity in 1970. He talked about how well school desegregation was progressing in Mississippi.

Later Public Service

Between 1978 and 1979, Leventhal worked as a Deputy Director. This was for the Office for Civil Rights in the U.S. Department of Health Education and Welfare in Washington D.C. From 1979 to 1984, he served as an Assistant Attorney General for the State of New York. He was in charge of the Consumer Frauds and Protection Bureau. Later, he became the Deputy First Assistant Attorney General of New York and the Chief of the Litigation Bureau.

Leventhal has argued two cases before the highest court in the country, the Supreme Court of the United States. These cases were Norwood v. Harrison (1973) and Blum v. Stenson (1984).

He remarried after his divorce.