Cumberland School of Law Announces Members of the National ...

Cumberland’s Works-in-Progress Series
Professor Angela Onwuachi-Willig of the University of Iowa
College of Law was the first presenter in Cumberland School of
Law Faculty’s Works-in-Progress Series. During her presentation,
she discussed her forthcoming book: According to Our
Hearts: Lessons on Race, Family, and Law From Rhinelander v.
Rinelander (Yale University Press).
According to Our Heats examines the sensational litigation of
Rhinelander v. Rhinelander and utilizes Alice and Leonard’s
story of love, law, and race as a backdrop for discussion on
contemporary issues on multiracial identity, interracial marriages
and multiracial families in a variety of contexts like
high-level professions, family, housing, and employment law.
Pressured by his family and risking disownment, Leonard Rhinelander—one of New York’s social elites—sought
an annulment from his wife, Alice, in 1924. Leonard claimed that Alice, of racially ambiguous ancestry, misrepresented
her race as white. Though interracial marriages were not legally proscribed in New York at the time,
Alice’s alleged racial misrepresentation served as a sufficient basis for annulment. In turn, the Rhinelander trial
became a spectacle of determining Alice’s race, concluding with not only the annulment of the Rhinelanders’
marriage but also the demise of a captivating love story between Alice and Leonard.
During her presentation, Professor Onwuachi-Willig discussed the specific workplace discrimination suffered by
employees in interracial unions and multiracial families as well as the import of monoracial unions on the advancement
of individuals seeking prominent professional positions in academia, sports, and politics.
Launched in 2004-2005, the Cumberland School of Law’s Works-in-Progress Series serves as an important opportunity
for faculty and interested students to hear the recent scholarship of leading legal academics from across the
country. The presentations allow attendees to think critically about and engage in a robust, intellectual exchange on
contemporary as well as historic socio-legal issues domestically and globally. If you are interested in learning more
about the Works-in-Progress Series, members of the Cumberland community may contact Professor Wendy Greene,
director of faculty development.
Dear Cumberland School of Law Students,
Legal Services Alabama (LSA) is a statewide nonprofit organization dedicated to providing access to justice and free quality
civil legal aid and assistance to educate and empower Alabama’s low-income community from nine offices located in: Anniston,
Birmingham, Dothan, Huntsville, Mobile, Montgomery, Opelika, Selma and Tuscaloosa.
The Birmingham office is currently in need of law clerks and is taking volunteers. Our office is currently understaffed and
we rely heavily on the assistance we receive from our law clerks. We ask our clerks to meet with clients, draft pleadings,
contact clients, attend court, conduct research, answer discovery etc……Also, volunteers would be free to make their own
schedule. We would love to have someone here everyday of the week, but if everyone can only show up on Thursday or
Friday we will take it.
For you 3L’s, this is a great opportunity to finish fleshing out your resume` with some hands on, practical legal experience.
If you are interested, contact Stephanie Blackburn at 205.328.3540 ext: 3513.
Professor Angela Onwuachi-Willig is pictured at the lectern
Birmingham Office
is Looking for Legal Clerk Volunteers