In Memory of Professor Christopher Edley Jr. (1953 - 2024)

By W. F. Twyman, Jr.

As time goes by, we lose more and more figures from our past. The people and characters who sharpened our perspective of the world for better and for worse. Last week, we lost former Harvard Law School professor Christopher Edley, Jr. I would like to take a moment this morning and remember Professor Edley.

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As we were stopped on the Pierson College courtyard, an elderly black man approached us. We were introduced and, by the sight of his Pierson College gear, I knew he was an alum. Yes, of course, he was of the Class of 1971, one of the first classes where black students were more than a couple in New Haven. I remembered that the Yale College Class of 1963 had 5 black students. The memory of an elephant comes in handy at times. One of the black members in the Class of 1963 was Arthur Gilliam. The alum in our presence knew Gilliam. In fact, Gilliam’s mother taught the guy we were talking with.

We talked and it dawned on me that we knew many of the same faces — Professor Armistead Robinson at the University of Virginia, former Baltimore Mayor Kurt Schmoke, Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Eventually, our new acquaintance let slip his membership in the Harvard Law School Class of 1977. He knew my former law professor colleague Christine Hickman (Yale undergraduate, Harvard Law School). My wife and I both smiled at the precise same time with a sigh. We love Christine. Christine introduced us to San Diego. We continued to play this game of “Do you know?” until I mentioned Christopher Edley, Jr.

“Yes, I knew Chris Edley.”

I noted that Edley passed away last week and, for a few seconds, the specter of mortality crossed our alum’s face. He did not know and I was the first to share the news of Edley’s death. Is there protocol for such a moment? No matter where we schooled, one day we will all pass away. That reality united us all in that moment on the Pierson College courtyard.

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Professor Christopher Edley, Jr. was named after his father, Christopher Edley Sr. (1928 - 2003) Father and son were both graduates of Harvard Law School. They were the first black father-son graduates of the law school. Edley Sr. graduated magna cum laude from Howard University and from Harvard law school in 1953. Edley Sr. came of age in the pre-Brown era. He was driven (and rightly so) by a red hot impulse to "advance Black life." I met Edley Sr. at a Black Alumni Association meeting at the law school. He was serving as president and chief executive officer of the United Negro College Fund (UNCF). Under Edley's tutelage, the UNCF became one of the most widely recognized charitable organizations in America. He joined the UNCF in 1973, a year after the organization enacted one of the first national advertising campaigns to raise money for black higher education.

I remember the ad campaign “A Mind Is A Terrible Thing to Waste.”

In 1953, Christopher Edley Jr. entered the world in Boston, Massachusetts as his father graduated from the law school. Like his father, Edley Jr. sought out Harvard Law School where he served on the law review and graduated in 1978. Like father, like son. Edley Jr. later joined the law faculty at Harvard.

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What were my impressions of Professor Edley?

Coming from the University of Virginia, I was accustomed to black professors taking an interest in me. I didn’t ask for the interest but having ready made mentors felt good.

I first met Professor Edley in his office in Pound Hall. I had bombed a class and I wanted advice on how to better prepare for my law school exams. I sat across from Professor Edley and explained my situation. Professor Edley expressed no particular interest in me or my travails.

And it occurred to me that I should not expect sympatico just because we shared the same race. Professor Edley was a former member of the law review which meant he was in the top 5% of law students in his class. I lived in a different universe from the mates on law review. Professor Edley rightly surmised his energies were better spent elsewhere, I suspect, like gaining tenure which he did in 1987.

I do not begrudge Professor Edley. In fact, he taught me an important lesson that I should not expect sympathy, affection and attention just because I shared the same race and law school. In the grand scheme of things, the Race was advanced with another black professor gaining tenure at Harvard Law School. Helping little old me get by on a Property exam didn’t really advance the Race in the grand scheme of things.

So, I fell back on self-reliance which may have been the best lasting lesson of all.

Conclusion: I am sad that Professor Christopher Edley Jr. has passed away. A part of my history has moved on. The generational legacy of a father-son family from Harvard Law School is lessened. One day, it is my hope that black father-son graduates of Harvard Law School will no longer merit attention or focus. Life is getting better one generation at a time, one law graduate at a time, one law professor at a time.

Professor Christopher Edley, Jr. (1953 - 2024)