Contribution to Book
Waging War on Separate But Equal: Oliver Hill's Heroic Journey From Small Town to the Highest Court
Heroes of Richmond: Four Centuries of Courage, Dignity, and Virtue
(2018)
Abstract
It is incumbent upon the hero to rise above difficult circumstances to
achieve greatness. The hero's migration from the innocent childhood environment
is the first stage of Campbell’s monomyth of the hero’s journey, which
he refers to as departure (Campbell, 1949). The heroism of underdog individuals
is perhaps enhanced by the fact that no one expects much from them, and
that they choose to face challenges that threatened to destroy them so that
others may lead better lives in the future. It is often the case that heroes with
the most ordinary of beginnings go on to accomplish the most extraordinary
feats, adding even greater merit to their accomplishments in the eyes of the
public. The goal of this chapter is to demonstrate the myriad ways that Oliver
Hill shed his status of underdog and became one of Richmond’s, and indeed
the world’s, most inspiring champions of civil rights.
Keywords
- Oliver Hill,
- civil rights hero
Disciplines
Publication Date
2018
Editor
Scott T. Allison
Publisher
Palsgrove
Citation Information
Kathryn K Lynch. "Waging War on Separate But Equal: Oliver Hill's Heroic Journey From Small Town to the Highest Court" Heroes of Richmond: Four Centuries of Courage, Dignity, and Virtue (2018) Available at: http://works.bepress.com/scott_allison/60/