[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 15 (Monday, February 5, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E176]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
TRIBUTE TO HON. DONALD P. McCULLUM
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HON. RONALD V. DELLUMS
of california
in the house of representatives
Thursday, February 1, 1996
Mr. DELLUMS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to share with my colleagues
the tremendous contributions of a highly esteemed constituent, Judge
Donald P. McCullum. Judge McCullum was born in Little Rock, AR, to
Charles and Irene McCullum, and was the fourth of six children.
Influenced by NAACP lawyer Thurgood Marshall's court victories,
Justice McCullum attended Talladega College in Alabama. After attending
and graduating with honors from Boston University, School of Law in
1951, he was then sworn in as a member of the Massachusetts Bar in
1953. A highly decorated Naval Officer during the Korean War, he
separated from the service and settled in Oakland, CA in 1955.
As a civil rights attorney and NAACP activist, he championed the
causes of the disenfranchised, the politically under-represented, the
non-represented and poor youth. He then led his contemporary colleagues
in the fight for civil rights during the 1950's, 1960's and 1970's and
received recognition as a civil rights leader. He served as Deputy
District Attorney of Alameda County, and was the first Black City
Attorney of Berkeley, and serviced as a California State Inheritance
Tax Referee. In 1977, Justice McCullum was appointed to the Alameda
County Superior Court bench by Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr., and was
then elected Presiding Judge for two terms. In 1982, McCullum was
appointed Associate Justice of the State Court of Appeals, and in 1984,
was appointed Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court.
His organizational affiliations include Sigma Pi Phi and Alpha Phi
Alpha fraternities, the American Bar Association, the National Bar
Association, the California Association of Black Lawyers, Director of
the National Urban Coalition in Washington, DC, lifetime member of both
the National Council of Negro Woman and the NAACP and Director of the
New Oakland Committee. Justice McCullum has also been characterized by
the San Francisco Examiner's Image Magazine, as ``one of three great
contributors to Bay Area Social Justice in the past 100 years.''
Judge Donald P. McCullum is survived by his wife of 25 years, Peggy,
a son, Donald Anthony, two daughters, Peggy Lisa and Erica, one
brother, Charles and two sisters, Laura and Ernize. He will forever
shine bright in the hearts of those he touched, and will be remembered
for years and years to come.
Judge McCullum's philosophy for life is reflected in the following
statement by him, ``The measure of performance and the value of an
endeavor is directly related to the obstacles surmounted, the adversity
overcome and the sacrifices made by a person.''
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