Clarence Dunnaville

Clarence M. Dunnaville Jr. (born 1933) is an American lawyer and civil rights activist, honored for his career achievements by the Virginia State Bar, as well as by the Library of Virginia.

Born in Roanoke, Virginia, Dunnaville saw a cross set afire by the Ku Klux Klan in front of his family's home when he was nine years old, cementing his lifelong interest in civil rights law. He refused to sit at the back of the bus or use segregated rest rooms, but did attend local public schools, including Lucy Addison High School, the colored high school in Roanoke (which closed in 1973 and became a desegregated middle school), from which he graduated at age 16.

Dunnaville wanted to escape segregation, so he attended college at Morgan State College in Baltimore, Maryland, and in addition to attending to his studies he picketed segregated theaters, participated in demonstrations, and sat-in at segregated lunch counters. He met Baltimore native Thurgood Marshall, who invited Dunnaville to attend oral argument in Brown v. Board of Education in December 1953. One of the companion cases, Davis v. County School Board of Prince Edward County concerned segregated, substandard Virginia schools attended by Dunnaville's relatives. Dunaville then attended St. John's University School of Law in Brooklyn, New York.

Upon graduating from law school and passing the New York bar exam, Dunnaville became the first African American to work for the Internal Revenue Service. In 1961 he began work for then United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York (and later New York City District Attorney) Robert Morganthau, whom he considers his most important mentor. He then became the first lawyer of color hired by AT&T (in 1965), and its Western Electric subsidiary in 1967 permitted him to take leave to work on civil rights matters with the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law in Mississippi, trying to enforce the Voting Rights Act. Upon returning to AT&T, Dunnaville ultimately rose an to the position of senior attorney.

Dunnaville also co-founded the Council of Concerned Black Executives and the Association for Integration in Management, which in the 1970s and 1980s worked with businesses to improve corporate opportunities for African-Americans. He also served as executive director of the New York Interracial Council for Business Opportunity, and in the early 1980s, co-founded Workshops in Business Opportunities to assist minority entrepreneurs gain business skills.

In 1990, Dunnaville returned to Virginia and at the invitation of civil rights pioneer Oliver Hill joined the Hill, Tucker & Marsh law firm. In 1998, Dunnaville helped found the Oliver Hill Foundation, and continues to advocate for restorative justice and improve pro bono service to the poor. He also served on the Virginia Waste Management Board, as well as on the National Board of Directors of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and the Board of Governors of the Virginia State Bar Diversity Conference.

In 2008, Dunnaville received the Segal-Tweed Founders Award from the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, in recognition of his long-term commitment to civil rights. During 2008 and 2009, he served as appellate co-counsel in Virginia’s first civil Gideon case heard before the Supreme Court of Virginia, culminating in 2012 amending legislation to the Code of Virginia. In 2009, Dunnaville was named a “Leader in the Law” by Virginia Lawyers Weekly and the Virginia State Bar awarded him its Lewis F. Powell Jr. Pro Bono Award. In 2010, the Old Dominion Bar Association awarded him its Harold Marsh Award. In 2012, he was the first recipient of the Clarence M. Dunnaville Jr. Achievement Award from the Virginia State Bar's Diversity Conference, a recognition named in his honor.

Dunaville has been the subject of many accolades and commentary lauding his career from those with whom he has interacted:

"If you have not had the pleasure of meeting Clarence Dunnaville, I hope you someday do so. He is a living history of our profession. Luckily for us, he is very much our living future as well. He continues on, as Emerson stated, content in knowing that the reward of things well done is simply to have done them." ~ Manuel A. Capsalis, Judge, Fairfax County General District Court and former President, Virginia State Bar

"I cannot recall a time when I have been with Clarence that he has not been overflowing with encouragement and grace. For Clarence, the focus is nurturing relationships, with friends and stranger alike. He expresses unconditional concern without preconception." ~ W. David Harless, former President, Virginia State Bar

"It is easy to forget about his wealth of experience fighting the toughest fights in the name of fairness and civil rights. So I always ask him what he’s up to and every conversation leads to something important and enriching." ~ Rodney A. Coggin, publications director of the Virginia State Bar

"Being in the presence of Clarence and particularly interacting with him in the context of the law is an educational experience with few parallels. Whether it is as a warrior for civil rights, accomplished lawyer, promoter of innovative ways to teach the law and diversity, leader of the Oliver White Hill Foundation, or advocate for the rights of the poor, Clarence has been in the forefront challenging the law to be a bit better and to live up to ideals espoused which are yet unachieved.... Clarence is a walking history of achievement and the epitome of moral leadership by example. He is a jewel in our Virginia legal community." ~ David Bernhard, collaborator with Dunnaville in Virginia's first civil Gideon case

Dunnaville's wife died after 42 years of marriage, and he has three sons as well as grandchildren. A life member of the NAACP, he is also a member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity (Virginia's Alpha Beta Boule chapter), and historic Gillfield Baptist Church in Petersburg.