Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Media, Law & Policy
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Media, Law & Policy

Jeffrey Gonda Honored with Supreme Court Historical Society Award

Wednesday, September 9, 2015, By Ellen Mbuqe
Share
AwardsCollege of Law

Jeffrey Gonda, assistant professor of history at the Maxwell School, was honored by the Supreme Court Historical Society with the Hughes-Gossett Award for Best Journal Article.

Gonda was presented the award by Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia during a ceremony earlier this summer.

Jeffrey Gonda

Jeffrey Gonda

The award was for Gonda’s paper “Litigating Racial Justice at the Grassroots: The Shelley Family, Black Realtors and Shelley v. Kraemer (1948).” His article tells the story of J.D. and Ethel Lee Shelley, an African-American couple who bought a house in 1945 in St. Louis. However, unknown to them, the home was under a racial restrictive covenant that prohibited African Americans and other minorities from occupying the property.

Another local homeowner quickly sued the Shelleys to prevent the family from keeping the home, but in 1948, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Shelley family and rendered all racially restrictive covenants unenforceable on the grounds that they violated the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Gonda’s paper details the background of the Shelley family, the role of local black realtors in their fight for equality and the unique aspects of this landmark case.

“Receiving the award was a tremendous honor,” says Gonda. “Getting to do so in the same courtroom that the Shelley family fought the last stages of their battle against housing segregation made it even more poignant. It’s a wonderful recognition of the Shelleys, their advocates and the story of this case that is so often forgotten as a milestone in the Civil Rights Movement.”

Gonda has written extensively about the subject and is the author of “Unjust Deeds: The Restrictive Covenant Cases and the Making of the Civil Rights Movement.”

For winning the Hughes-Gossett Award, Gonda received a cash prize and an engraved block of marble that was once part of the Supreme Court chamber. Gonda was also interviewed by the Supreme Court Historical Society, a private nonprofit organization dedicated to the collection and preservation of the history of the Supreme Court.

 

  • Author

Ellen Mbuqe

  • Recent
  • Maxwell Sociologists Receive $1.8 Million From the NIA to Study Midlife Health and Mortality
    Sunday, September 24, 2023, By News Staff
  • School of Education Faculty Publish ‘Lesson Study With Mathematics and Science Preservice Teachers’
    Sunday, September 24, 2023, By Martin Walls
  • Water Main Break Near Bird Library to Be Repaired Monday
    Sunday, September 24, 2023, By News Staff
  • University Musicians, West Point Band to Perform Together This Weekend As Part of Events Around Military Appreciation Day
    Friday, September 22, 2023, By Christine Weber
  • Turning Young Enthusiasts Into Scientific Researchers
    Friday, September 22, 2023, By Wendy S. Loughlin

More In Media, Law & Policy

Maxwell Sociologists Receive $1.8 Million From the NIA to Study Midlife Health and Mortality

A team of Maxwell School faculty led by Jennifer Karas Montez and Shannon Monnat have been awarded a $1.8 million grant from the National Institute on Aging (NIA) to support their research on geographic disparities in midlife mortality. Montez, University…

Languages Unlock Opportunities for English for Lawyers Alumna

Languages act as a guide for communicating our goals and dreams. It’s how we make sense of the world and connect with the communities around us. Become fluent in a variety of languages, and it’s like collecting keys that unlock…

Law Student Tyriese Robinson Named Inaugural Recipient of the NDNY FCBA Hon. Norman A. Mordue ’66, L’71 Law Scholarship

The first recipient of a scholarship established in honor of the Hon. Norman A. Mordue ’66, L’71 is second-year law student Tyriese Robinson. The Northern District of New York (NDNY) Federal Court Bar Association (FCBA) Hon. Norman A. Mordue ’66,…

Robertson Fellows Aspire to Serve as Foreign Service Officers

Interested in careers in the foreign service, Zoe Prin and Forrest Gatrell took advantage of internships and other opportunities as undergraduates that exposed them to the inner workings of government, policymaking and service from differing vantage points. While Gatrell obtained…

Craig M. Boise to Conclude Tenure as College of Law Dean at End of Academic Year

When Craig M. Boise stepped into his role as dean of the College of Law in the spring of 2016, he described his vision to create “a sustainable law school that leverages the knowledge, skill and imagination of its faculty…

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

  • X
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
Social Media Directory

For the Media

Find an Expert Follow @SyracuseUNews
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • @SyracuseU
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • @SUCampus
  • Social Media Directory
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Campus Status
  • Syracuse.edu
© 2023 Syracuse University News. All Rights Reserved.