Hamilton Gazetteer / Entities / Drew S. Days III

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person

Drew S. Days III

Overview

Drew Saunders Days III (August 29, 1941 – November 15, 2020) was a civil rights attorney, legal scholar, and public official who graduated from Hamilton College cum laude in 1963 with an AB in English literature. He served as the first African American Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division under President Jimmy Carter (1977–1980) and as the 40th Solicitor General of the United States under President Bill Clinton (1993–1996) — the first Black person to hold that office. He was the Alfred M. Rankin Professor of Law at Yale Law School, joining the faculty in 1981 and holding that endowed chair from 1992 until his retirement. He also served as a trustee of Hamilton College, and the Days-Massolo Center for diversity awareness on campus is dedicated in his honor.

Relevance to Research

Days is primarily relevant to the Hamilton corpus as a distinguished alumnus of the Class of 1963 — one of the College’s most prominent Black graduates — and as a trustee. The Days-Massolo Center, opened in 2011, institutionalized his connection to the college. Any Spectator coverage of his career, his civil rights work, or the Center’s founding would document Hamilton’s engagement with its most prominent African American alumni in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries.

Notes

Dates: August 29, 1941 – November 15, 2020 (aged 79)
Born: Atlanta, Georgia
Died: New Haven, Connecticut
Spouse: Ann Langdon (m. 1966)
Education: New Rochelle High School; Hamilton College, AB cum laude, English literature (1963); Yale Law School, JD (1966)
Party: Democratic
Role: Hamilton College alumnus (Class of 1963); Hamilton College trustee; 40th Solicitor General of the United States (1993–1996); Alfred M. Rankin Professor of Law, Yale Law School
Key events: - Graduated cum laude from Hamilton College in 1963 with an AB in English literature; inspired by the civil rights leaders of that era, enrolled at Yale Law School - Was a member of the Yale Russian Chorus during his years in New Haven; remained active with the ensemble throughout his career - After law school, briefly practiced law in Chicago, then served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Honduras for two years - Returned to the U.S. in 1969; became first assistant counsel at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund in New York City; worked at LDF for eight years litigating civil rights cases - Nominated by President Jimmy Carter in 1977 to serve as Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights; tenure marked by aggressive enforcement of civil rights laws; served until 1981 - Joined Yale Law School faculty in 1981; founded the Orville H. Schell Jr. Center for Human Rights at Yale in 1988 and served as its director until 1993 - Nominated by President Bill Clinton in 1993 as Solicitor General; as the 40th SG, represented the United States before the Supreme Court; served until 1996 - Assumed the Alfred M. Rankin Professorship of Law at Yale in 1992 - From 1997 to 2011, headed the Supreme Court and appellate practice at Morrison & Foerster LLP; was of counsel at the firm’s Washington, D.C. office until retirement in December 2011 - Served as trustee of Hamilton College - 2011: Hamilton College opened the Days-Massolo Center with the goal of promoting diversity awareness and fostering dialogue; the center is dedicated to Days and fellow Hamilton trustee Arthur J. Massolo - Involved in national and international efforts on Hurricane Katrina relief, poverty alleviation, environmental issues, and juvenile justice