Loving v. Virginia Plaintiff Passes

Blogger's note: Loving v. Virginia was one of the most important civil rights cases in U.S. history. And since many of us in animal law have been inspired by, learned from, and continue to attempt to build upon the struggles and achievements of the civil rights movement in this country, I wanted to take a moment to note the passing of one of plaintiffs in this landmark decision.

Mildred Loving Followed Her Heart and Made History

By Neely Tucker

Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, May 6, 2008; Page C01

Sometimes people just do things because they think they are the right things to do. Or, because they just want bothersome people to leave them alone. Not everyone wants to be on "Oprah" and write their memoirs, not even when they change history.

Consider Oliver L. Brown, a black pastor and railroad worker who joined a lawsuit in Kansas for his daughter to be able to go to a white school. Thus he became part of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, the 1954 case that ended legalized segregation in America. When he died in 1961, the local paper mentioned his church, that he became ill during a trip to his in-laws' 50th wedding anniversary, that he was 42 -- and not a word about perhaps the most famous court case in the 20th century.

So we don't really know what to say about the passing on Friday of Mildred Loving (nee Jeter), she of Loving v. Commonwealth of Virginia fame...

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