Join the Clarence Darrow Commemorative Committee for its annual flower-tossing and symposium in 2024
The Darrow Commemorative Committee invites you to participate in two March events celebrating Darrow.
2019 Clarence Darrow Symposium Marks 95 Years Since Darrow’s Historic Defense of Leopold and Loeb
CHICAGO – The annual Chicago tradition marking the anniversary of the death of famed Chicago attorney Clarence Darrow will mark the 95th anniversary of the Leopold-Loeb murder case, which raised profound and disturbing questions about social class, criminal psychology, morality, justice, and mercy that are still relevant and thought-provoking today. Darrow successfully defended Nathan Leopold and Richard…
80 Years Since Darrow’s Death: Three attorneys speak about how Darrow Inspires their Work
The 2018 Darrow Symposium explored Darrow’s impact and relevance 80 years after his death. Nabeela Rasheed – a Pakistani, British, American, Muslim, Queer, Lawyer, Biochemist and activist, Scott Schoettes – Counsel and HIV Project Director at Lambda Legal, and Catharine O’Daniel – a criminal defense attorney and appellate lawyer, described the impact Darrow had on…
Clarence Darrow Symposium to explore populism
Famed attorney Clarence Darrow, inspired by his defense of Patrick Prendergast in Chicago in the 1890s, became attracted to a burgeoning populist movement. The Debs Rebellion, named for labor organizer Eugene Debs, was in full force, and Darrow began to see how judges were under the control of corporations. “The experience left him angry and…
Cook County Jail Then and Now: The Impact of Poverty and Racism
Join us March 13th, 2016 at 10 a.m. for the annual wreath tossing and symposium to commemorate Clarence Darrow, as we explore the role of poverty and racism on incarceration, and hear a reading of Darrow’s words on the subject. This year, Hanke Gratteau, director of the Cook County Sheriff’s Justice Institute, describes today’s jail population and…
The Annual Bridge Ceremony
The core mission of the Clarence Darrow Commemorative Committee is to honor and commemorate the life, the work, the achievements, the tradition, the values, and the philosophy of famed Chicago lawyer Clarence Seward Darrow (1857 ‑ 1938). Particular emphasis is placed upon Mr. Darrow’s devotion to the American ideal of the universal application of the…
The Darrow Symposium: Undocumented Laborers and Immigration
On the seventy-eighth anniversary of famed attorney Clarence Darrow’s death, this year’s annual Darrow symposium on Friday, March 13 explored contemporary activism on the issues of undocumented laborers and immigration. Darrow’s attitude is summarized by a quote from a 1929 debate on “Is Immigration Beneficial?” in which he said, “I am a foreigner; my people didn’t get…
Symposium: Death of the American Trial
On the seventy-sixth anniversary of famed attorney Clarence Darrow’s death, the annual Darrow commemoration on March 13, 2014 focused on the “The Death of the American Trial” with professor Robert P. Burns, author of a 2009 book by the same title. Despite deep snow that kept participants from gathering right at the Darrow plaque in Jackson…
Symposium: Marking 75 Years Since Darrow’s Death
On the seventy-fifth anniversary of Clarence Darrow’s death, this year’s annual Darrow commemoration on Wednesday, March 13, seeks to build a bridge between Darrow’s ideals and the social injustices of our own time. This year’s program is titled “The Bridge to Darrow” with speakers Tom Geoghegan, Juan Perea and Anita Weinberg The day begins with…
Symposium: Altgeld, Haymarket Riots
Clarence Darrow aficionados will gather at the Darrow Bridge in Jackson Park Tuesday, March 13 at 10 a.m. for the annual ceremony commemorating Darrow’s death in Chicago on March 13, 1938. Darrow is remembered for his crusading role as “attorney for the damned” in such controversial cases as the Scopes Monkey Trial, the Leopold…
Darrow Bridge Ceremony Celebrates End of Illinois Death Penalty
Attorneys, labor leaders, and social justice advocates celebrated the end of the Illinois death penalty at the annual Darrow Bridge gathering in Jackson Park today. The group has gathered every March 13th for over 50 years to honor Darrow’s memory. While celebrating the new Illinois death penality legislation, speakers at the bridge event this year also…
Clarence Darrow Commemorative Committee 