California courthouse named after the Obamas’ Harvard professor

Ask Richard Ogletree how to describe his older brother Charles James Ogletree Jr. and he’ll cut straight to the chase with a single word.

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Hero.

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It’s a word he doesn’t take lightly, as someone who witnessed firsthand how his brother rose from humble Merced beginnings to become one of the nation’s finest legal minds as a professor at Harvard Law School.

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Not to mention, he was a mentor to future President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama when they were Harvard students.

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“Despite the fact that he has risen to high levels, he hasn’t forgotten where he came from,” Richard Ogletree said. “He remembers his roots.”

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Richard Ogletree, 66, was not alone in expressing that sentiment Friday, as dozens of well-wishers joined with him to celebrate naming the Merced County Courthouse in honor of his brother.

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The large letters above the courthouse exterior entrance now read the “Charles James Ogletree Jr. Courthouse.”

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It was an honor the 70-year-old Charles Ogletree, who grew up in Merced, unfortunately was not available to witness. Seven years ago he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and is now being cared for at home.

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“He can receive all kinds of national and international recognition, but for him to be recognized by our hometown, it’s special. It’s just special,” Richard Ogletree added.

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Rosemarie Jacobs, Charles Ogletree’s younger sister, said her brother was inspired at a young age to become an attorney by watching Raymond Burr play the fictional criminal defense attorney “Perry Mason” on the television show with the same name.

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“He said, ‘I want to be just like Perry Mason when I grow up.’ He accomplished that, didn’t he? And more,” Jacobs, 64, said.

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NAACP, Adam Gray led naming effort

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The idea to name the Merced courthouse after Charles Ogletree was spearheaded by the Merced branch of the NAACP, Adam Gray, and other devoted members of the community.

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But getting to Friday’s momentous naming ceremony wasn’t an overnight process. Gray, who up until recently served in the state Assembly representing Merced, began working closely with the NAACP two years ago to get the necessary legislation passed to name the courthouse after Charles Ogletree.

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Gray and the group also had to work with California’s Judicial Council to get the courthouse name approved.

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“As one of Merced’s native sons who has made incredible contributions to the advancement of racial justice in the American legal system, there is no more deserving individual on whom to bestow the honor of naming this courthouse than professor Ogletree,” Gray said.

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Allen Brooks, president of the Merced NAACP, said the occasion is also fitting, given that February is Black History Month. “He’s a pillar of our community. His name still rings loudly through our barbershops, through our grocery stores, so this is a wonderful achievement.” Brooks said.

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“Adam Gray’s team, the NAACP team, we got together and made sure that this happened.”

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Many public officials and members of Merced County’s legal community attended Friday’s event, including Merced County Superior Court Presiding Judge Mark Bacciarini, Judge Brian McCabe and Judge Donald Proietti.

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“Dr. Ogletree has put Merced on the map in many ways, which makes the three judges here very proud. All three of us were also born and raised in Merced,” Bacciarini told the audience Friday.

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Others in attendance Friday included UC Merced Chancellor Juan Sánchez Muñoz, Merced College President Chris Vitelli and Assemblywoman Esmeralda Soria, D-Fresno.

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House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries sent a video message from his New York office to recognize Charles Ogletree during Friday’s event.

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“Throughout his life and throughout his legal journey, Professor Ogletree has been an incredible force of nature, a dynamic public servant who has advanced the law for social justice, civil rights, civil liberties and tolerance in our society like none other,” Jeffiries said.

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“We thank you, Professor Ogletree, for your life’s work, for your contributions, for the manner in which you inspire all of us to do better and to bend the arc of the moral universe toward justice.”

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From humble beginnings

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Born in Merced in 1952, Ogletree was the son of Charles Sr. and Willie Mae Ogletree. His family, including his grandparents, were migrant workers, often picking figs for a living, according to stories in the Merced Sun-Star archives.

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He left his hometown to pursue an education and eventually went on to earn a master’s degree from Stanford University and his juris doctorate from Harvard Law School.

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During his career he focused on advancing civil rights, racial justice and social tolerance and was an influential writer and scholar in the legal profession.

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As a professor at Harvard Law, Ogletree inspired many generations of students, including the Obamas.

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In a column he wrote for the Sun-Star in 2009, Ogletree described the president and first lady as “exceptionally gifted students” during their time at Harvard.

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“I met Michelle in 1985 and Barack in 1988, and this journey has had many sweet victories and a few bitter defeats, but nothing will match the joy of being a kid born and raised in Merced finding himself 56 years later serving as a senior adviser and mentor to the President of the United States of America,” Ogletree wrote.

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Among his most prominent achievements, Ogletree represented survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, a racially motivated attack against Tulsa’s thriving Black community of Greenwood. He also acted as legal counsel to Professor Anita Hill during the Clarence Thomas Supreme Court confirmation hearings in 1991.

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In 2006, Charles Ogletree was awarded UC Merced’s inaugural Alice and Clifford Spendlove Prize in Social Justice, Diplomacy and Tolerance, an honor whose recipients over the years have included former President Jimmy Carter, the Dalai Lama, Cruz Reynoso and others.

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Jacobs said she’s hopeful young children who come from humble beginnings like her brother, particularly those from Merced, will be inspired when they see Charles Ogletree’s name on the courthouse. Jacobs hopes it will be a message to know they, too, can accomplish their dreams.

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“Little kids are going to grow up to see this, and they are going to know who Charles Ogletree is. They are going to be so happy,” she said.

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This story was originally published February 18, 2023 at 8:52 AM.