usclaw - USC Gould School of Law - University of Southern California

NE W S FROM THE LAW SCHOOL
Crispus A. Wright ’38 Named Honorary University Tr u s t e e
Crispus At t u cks Wright, a graduate and longtime
supporter of the Law School, will now
serve the university as an honorary trustee.
Crispus Attucks Wright, a re t i red Los Angeles civil attorney whose father was born into slave ry,
has been named an honorary trustee of the Un i versity of Southern California.
M r. Wright has been affiliated with USC for 68 years, since he matriculated as a fre s h m a n
in 1932. Mr. Wright earned a B.A. in political science (1936) from USC and an LL.B. (1938)
f rom the USC Law School.
“ M r. Wr i g h t’s accomplishments are a lesson in courage and tenacity for all of us,” says St e ve n
B. Sample, USC’s president. “We are honored that he has committed himself over the ye a r s
to USC’s Law School and to advancing civil rights for all Americans. He has been a model
for USC law students for years, and has materially advanced the cause of deserving students
of eve ry race at USC.”
Named after Crispus Attucks, a free black man who in 1770 was the first casualty of the
American Re volution, Mr. Wright was imbued with a sense of his African-American heritage
by his parents. Mr. Wr i g h t’s father — born into slave ry in Louisiana and a graduate of Leland
Un i ve r s i t y, an early black college — was a teacher and high school principal who stressed to his
c h i l d ren the importance of an education.
By 1928, young Crispus Wr i g h t’s interest in law and civil rights had become apparent. W h i l e
attending Manual Arts High School just south of USC, Mr. Wright would often visit the Los
Angeles County Courthouse to observe lawyers arguing cases. T h e re he witnessed the work
of Willis O. Ty l e r, then the city’s most prominent black litigator. Family friend Be rt Mc Do n a l d ,
a 1923 graduate of the USC Law School, further encouraged Mr. Wright to study law, which
he did at USC.
“ My ties to USC run strong and deep, so this honor from my alma mater is especially
rew a rding,” Mr. Wright says. “My professors and classmates pushed me to work at my optimum
l e vel. Becoming an honorary trustee symbolizes the passing of the torch to the next generation,
but I shall continue to be actively invo l ved with USC and the Law School.”
In 1940, Mr. Wright established a civil law practice in So u t h-Central Los Angeles. Then, in
1943, he co-founded the John M. Langston Bar Association of Los Angeles. The Langston Ba r
Association remains the principal black legal association in the Los Angeles area. He is a member
of the National Bar Association, the American Bar Association and the Kappa Alpha Psi fratern
i t y.
Ap a rt from his legal practice, Mr. Wright also owned and operated a number of businesses
in the Los Angeles area and was chairman of the board of Southern California’s oldest continuously
published black new s p a p e r, the Los Angeles Se n t i n e l. He closed his office in Be verly Hi l l s
in 1987, after nearly 50 years in the legal pro f e s s i o n .
In 1997, Mr. Wright gave $2 million to the USC Law School to establish a scholarship
e n d owment fund for academically qualified and financially deserving African-American
students, as well as those of other ethnicities, who are interested in practicing law in under-re p resented
communities.
“ Cris Wright has become an indomitable force in the Los Angeles legal community,” says
Ma t t h ew L. Sp i t ze r, dean of the USC Law School. “His appointment to serve the unive r s i t y
as an honorary trustee commemorates not only the integrity and vision with which he has
conducted his professional life, but also the leadership and generosity that have underscored his
s e rvice to the community and the unive r s i t y. ”
USCLAW s p r i n g 2001
3 5