| | Abstract: | James L. Hardiman (b. 1941), was born in Cleveland, Ohio, the son of Sally and Albert Hardiman and a graduate of John Jay High School in the Cleveland Public School System during the 1950s. Hardiman earned a bachelor's degree from Baldwin-Wallace College in 1963 and his Juris Doctorate from Cleveland Marshall College of Law in 1968. Not long after being admitted to the Ohio bar, Hardiman became an attorney for the plaintiffs in the case of Robert Anthony Reed v. James A. Rhodes, which concerned the desegregation of the Cleveland Public Schools and was heard in the United States District Court Northern District of Ohio and United States Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals beginning in 1973 and concluding in 2000. Hardiman's papers regarding Reed v. Rhodes that make up this collection document his role and experiences in the matter. A celebrated civil rights attorney, Hardiman is perhaps most well known for his involvement in this case and other school desegregation initiatives across Ohio and the United States. With over 40 years of experience litigating complex civil liberties issues, Hardiman is also noted for his work challenging at-large elections of municipal court judges in Ohio and dedication to just criminal defense. In 2010, Hardiman was named the legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio, where he continues to fight for civil rights. The collection consists of agendas, budgets, correspondence (general and professional), handbooks, legal briefs, memoranda, newsletters, newspaper clippings, notes, pamphlets, proposals, reports, testimony, transcripts, trial exhibits, and unofficial legal files. | |
