Washington Post columnist Juan Williams saidHigginbotham's concern for the current impeachmentproceedings affected his entire demeanor. Williamssaid Higginbotham told him that children inpoverty were far more important to our nation thanimpeachment.
"I just saw him Friday night in WashingtonNational [Airport] and he said he was fine butvery glum about the impeachment hearings. He saidthere was so much to be done in this country,"Williams said.
Williams called Higginbotham a landmark figurein 20th-century black America.
"From a historical perspective, Higginbothamreally stands out as a single force in so much ofblack American history," he said. "[He was]someone who was at the cutting edge of theargument over how to use the law to advance civilrights in the country."
Ellen V. Holloman, a third-year law student andcourse assistant in Higginbotham's Af-Am class,called the judge inspiring.
"When I decided I wanted to be a lawyer he wasone of the influential figures that sent me to lawschool," she said.
"He paid me to be his teaching assistant--Iwould've done it for free just to be near him,"she said. "For someone training to be a younglawyer you couldn't ask for a better teacher."
Mark E. McIntosh '99, who worked as a researchassistant for Higginbotham and described himselfas a good friend of the judge, called Higginbotham"the best example of somebody devoting time whenmost other people don't think it's important."
Many of Higginbotham's students expressed theirsadness at the loss and their feeling of honor athaving learned from his experiences.
Nancy Nanka-Bruce '99 called him one ofHarvard's greatest "primary sources."
"Something that I remember most about him wasthat he sat in on the preliminary proceedings thatled to Brown v. Board of Ed.," she said."There's no way to describe sitting in class andthe man says, 'When I talked to Chief Justice[Earl] Warren...' He was his class and there wasno better source of info."
Other students described their awe at knowingone of the nation's foremost legal minds.
"He was just an intellectual powerhouse--he wasone of the most brilliant men that I've ever hadthe pleasure to meet," said Taj J. Clayton '99, astudent in Af-Am 195.
"The magnitude of his presence wasawe-inspiring," said Clayton, who also worked withHigginbotham on his most recent research study.
As news of his illness spread across campusyesterday, many members of the Harvard communitystopped to say a prayer for their friend.Professor of Afro-American Studies Cornel R. West'74 asked his class to observe a moment of silencefor Higginbotham at the beginning of Af-Am 10,"Introduction to Afro-American Studies." Duringthe day, members of the Black StudentsAssociation, Kuumba and the W.E.B. DuBois Societyalso received an e-mail message on Higginbotham'scondition that urged them to pray for hisrecovery.
Higginbotham received acclaim for hismulti-volume series of books titled Race andthe American Legal Process. He held honorarydegrees from over 60 institutions, and earlierthis year received the Roger Baldwin Award of theAmerican Civil Liberties Union.
Higginbotham's wife, professor of Afro-AmericanStudies and of History Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham,took this semester off to recover from recentsurgery.
He is survived by his wife, two daughters andtwo sons.
A funeral for Higginbotham will be held nextMonday at the People's Baptist Church in Boston,located at 134 Camden St. The University plans tohold a memorial service at Harvard early nextyear.