The annual Clarence Darrow symposium—marking the 78th anniversary of Darrow’s passing, and taking place Sunday, March 13—will examine the issues of racism and poverty.
Speaking on the topic “Cook County Jail: Then and Now, The Impact of Poverty and Racism,” Hanke Gratteau, who is director of the Cook County Sheriff’s Justice Institute, will describe today’s jail population and the efforts underway to create enlightened policies and practices regarding incarceration and housing evictions. This year’s event also includes a dramatic performance by actress and producer Fawzia Mirza of Darrow’s famous 1902 address to the prisoners in Cook County Jail.
The day begins with a brief ceremony and wreath-tossing near the Darrow Bridge in Jackson Park at 10 a.m., where Darrow’s ashes were scattered after his death and where, as a bet, he once agreed his spirit would return if it turned out communication was possible from the afterworld.
After the ritual outdoor wreath-tossing, guests will move inside to the Museum of Science and Industry’s Rosenwald Room (formerly the Columbian Room) for light refreshments and presentations at 10:45 a.m. by the featured speakers.
Darrow, who died March 13, 1938, is remembered for his crusading role as “attorney for the damned” in such controversial cases as the Scopes Monkey Trial, the Leopold and Loeb murder case, and the pardoning of the Haymarket anarchists.
See DarrowBridge.org.