News Archive
BLSA Unveils New Portrait of Henry J. Richardson, Jr., ‘28
09/29/2006
On September 8, the Black Law Students Association (BLSA) held an event to honor one of the law school’s most prominent African American alumni, Henry J. Richardson, Jr. , ’28. BLSA president Elisabeth Cheatham and BLSA board member Shelley Jackson were hosts for the long-awaited unveiling of Mr. Richardson’s portrait, which now hangs in the law school. BLSA began raising money for the portrait over two years ago. Mr. Richardson’s son Rodney C. Richardson, an attorney in Indianapolis, was on hand to help honor his father’s legacy to the law and civil rights in the community. Interim Dean Susanah Mead and law school alumnus Alan K. Mills, ’82 also made remarks at the event. The portrait, which was painted by Constance Edwards Scopelitis, now hangs in a prominent location on the second floor of Inlow Hall. The portrait is part of the law school’s effort to diversify the portraits at the school. In addition to the many portraits of past deans (all white males), the law school now has Mr. Richardson, as well as images of Thurgood Marshall, the first black justice of the United States Supreme Court, and William H. Hastie, the nation’s first black federal magistrate and first black United States Circuit Court of Appeals judge. (Photo: Rodney C. Richardson, Marya Jones Overby, '86, and Alan K. Mills, '82 with the new portrait.)
