Lawrence Otis Graham
Encyclopedia
Lawrence Otis Graham is an African-American attorney, speaker, and a named best-selling author by The New York Times
.
, New York and raised in Westchester County, NY.
Lawrence Otis Graham is a nationally-known corporate and labor attorney
as well as a New York Times bestselling author of 14 non-fiction
books on the subject of politics, education, race and class in America. A graduate of Princeton University
and Harvard Law School
, his work has appeared in such publications as The New York Times, Reader’s Digest, Glamour, U.S. News & World Report
and Reader's Digest, where he has served as a contributing editor. His book, Our Kind of People: Inside America’s Black Upper Class (HarperCollins
) was a New York Times, L.A. Times and ssence Magazine]] bestseller, as well as a selection of the Book of the Month Club
.
Graham’s book, The Senator and The Socialite: the Story of America’s First Black Political Dynasty (HarperCollins) is a biography of U.S. Senator Blanche Bruce
, the first black to serve a full term in the U.S. Senate. Graham is also the author of such books as The Best Companies for Minorities (Penguin Books
) and Proversity: Getting Past Face Value (John Wiley & Sons
) –two guides on diversity in the workplace—as well as Member of the Club, which focused on his now-famous experience of leaving his New York law firm and going undercover as a busboy
to expose racism, sexism and anti-Semitism
at a segregated
country club
in Connecticut
during the 1990s. That was originally a cover story on New York Magazine, and was later optioned for a feature film by Warner Brothers. The article led to the Professional Golfers' Association of America
's decision to no longer host events at segregated clubs. Upon the article's publication, Graham was named Young Lawyer of the Year by the National Bar Association
, and several city bar associations around the nation adopted policies that discouraged member firms from hosting events or conducting business with clubs that did not permit women, minorities or Jews.
Graham has appeared on numerous TV programs including Charlie Rose, The Oprah Winfrey Show
, Today Show, The View, Hardball with Chris Matthews
, and Good Morning America
, and has been profiled in USA Today
, Time Magazine, Ebony, and People Magazine. He is a popular speaker at colleges, corporations and other institutions where he has addressed the issues of education, diversity and American culture. His audiences have included Duke University
, UCLA, Howard, Yale University
, Kraft Foods
, Corning, Xerox
, Disney, American Jewish Committee
, the American Library Association
and other organizations around the U.S. and Japan
. His research and advice have appeared in The Wall Street Journal. He launched a campaign to get the U.S. Postal Service to honor Senator Blanche Bruce on a stamp since the nation has never placed a black elected official on a stamp. A former adjunct professor at Fordham University
, Graham has taught African American Studies
as well as American Government. A lifelong resident of Westchester County (NY), Graham appears weekly as a political commentator on News 12, and also writes Westchester Magazine
s online political column "Point of View". He is chairman of the Westchester County Police Board and has served on boards including Red Cross of Westchester, the Boy Scouts
, Princeton Center for Leadership Training, Jack & Jill Foundation, and Council on Economic Priorities. Graham is Editor at Large of Uptown Magazine.
Graham is a trustee of SUNY Purchase College Foundation and the Horace Mann School
and is married to the corporate executive, Pamela Thomas-Graham
, who is the author of several books including Blue Blood and Orange Crushed. They live in Manhattan
and Westchester County, New York, and they have three children.
This is the true story of America’s first black dynasty and follows three generations of a family that rose from slavery to the U.S. Senate. Born a Mississippi
slave in 1841, Blanche Kelso Bruce amassed a real estate
fortune and became the first black to serve a full Senate term. He married Josephine Willson, the daughter of a wealthy black doctor, and they broke racial barriers as a socialite
couple in 1880s Washington, D.C.
By hosting white Republicans and blacks like President Ulysses S. Grant
and Frederick Douglass
, Bruce gained appointments under four Presidents, culminating with a US Treasury post which placed his name on all U.S. currency.
Debutante cotillions. Million-dollar homes. Summers in Martha’s Vineyard and Sag Harbor. Membership in the Links, Jack and Jill
, Deltas, Boule, and AKAs. An obsession with the right schools, families, churches, social clubs, and skin complexion. This is the world of the black upper class and the focus of the first book written about the black elite by a member of this hard-to-penetrate group.
Member of the Club was Lawrence Otis Graham’s 11th book, but it was the one that brought national recognition to his smart and insightful essays on race, class and politics. This book is best known for revealing Graham’s experience of leaving his successful corporate law practice at one of New York’s largest law firms in order to go undercover as a busboy at a famous Connecticut country club that discriminates against African Americans, Jews, Hispanics, Asians and women. An excerpt of this book appeared on the cover of New York Magazine and made it their best-selling issue in the publication’s history.
Coming Soon
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
.
Biography
Lawrence Otis Graham was born in New YorkNew York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, New York and raised in Westchester County, NY.
Lawrence Otis Graham is a nationally-known corporate and labor attorney
Attorney at law
An attorney at law in the United States is a practitioner in a court of law who is legally qualified to prosecute and defend actions in such court on the retainer of clients. Alternative terms include counselor and lawyer...
as well as a New York Times bestselling author of 14 non-fiction
Non-fiction
Non-fiction is the form of any narrative, account, or other communicative work whose assertions and descriptions are understood to be fact...
books on the subject of politics, education, race and class in America. A graduate of Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
and Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...
, his work has appeared in such publications as The New York Times, Reader’s Digest, Glamour, U.S. News & World Report
U.S. News & World Report
U.S. News & World Report is an American news magazine published from Washington, D.C. Along with Time and Newsweek it was for many years a leading news weekly, focusing more than its counterparts on political, economic, health and education stories...
and Reader's Digest, where he has served as a contributing editor. His book, Our Kind of People: Inside America’s Black Upper Class (HarperCollins
HarperCollins
HarperCollins is a publishing company owned by News Corporation. It is the combination of the publishers William Collins, Sons and Co Ltd, a British company, and Harper & Row, an American company, itself the result of an earlier merger of Harper & Brothers and Row, Peterson & Company. The worldwide...
) was a New York Times, L.A. Times and ssence Magazine]] bestseller, as well as a selection of the Book of the Month Club
Book of the Month Club
The Book of the Month Club is a United States mail-order book sales club that offers a new book each month to customers.The Book of the Month Club is part of a larger company that runs many book clubs in the United States and Canada. It was formerly the flagship club of Book-of-the-Month Club, Inc...
.
Graham’s book, The Senator and The Socialite: the Story of America’s First Black Political Dynasty (HarperCollins) is a biography of U.S. Senator Blanche Bruce
Blanche Bruce
Blanche Kelso Bruce was a U.S. politician who represented Mississippi as a Republican in the U.S. Senate from 1875 to 1881 and was the first elected African-American senator to serve a full term. Hiram R. Revels, also of Mississippi, was the first to ever serve in the U.S...
, the first black to serve a full term in the U.S. Senate. Graham is also the author of such books as The Best Companies for Minorities (Penguin Books
Penguin Books
Penguin Books is a publisher founded in 1935 by Sir Allen Lane and V.K. Krishna Menon. Penguin revolutionised publishing in the 1930s through its high quality, inexpensive paperbacks, sold through Woolworths and other high street stores for sixpence. Penguin's success demonstrated that large...
) and Proversity: Getting Past Face Value (John Wiley & Sons
John Wiley & Sons
John Wiley & Sons, Inc., also referred to as Wiley, is a global publishing company that specializes in academic publishing and markets its products to professionals and consumers, students and instructors in higher education, and researchers and practitioners in scientific, technical, medical, and...
) –two guides on diversity in the workplace—as well as Member of the Club, which focused on his now-famous experience of leaving his New York law firm and going undercover as a busboy
Busboy
Busser, busboy and busgirl are terms used in the United States for someone who works in the restaurant and catering industry clearing tables, taking dirty dishes to the dishwasher, setting tables and otherwise assisting the waiting staff....
to expose racism, sexism and anti-Semitism
Anti-Semitism
Antisemitism is suspicion of, hatred toward, or discrimination against Jews for reasons connected to their Jewish heritage. According to a 2005 U.S...
at a segregated
Racial segregation in the United States
Racial segregation in the United States, as a general term, included the racial segregation or hypersegregation of facilities, services, and opportunities such as housing, medical care, education, employment, and transportation along racial lines...
country club
Country club
A country club is a private club, often with a closed membership, that typically offers a variety of recreational sports facilities and is located in city outskirts or rural areas. Activities may include, for example, any of golf, tennis, swimming or polo...
in Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
during the 1990s. That was originally a cover story on New York Magazine, and was later optioned for a feature film by Warner Brothers. The article led to the Professional Golfers' Association of America
Professional Golfers' Association of America
Founded in 1916, the Professional Golfers' Association of America is headquartered in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, and is made up of more than 28,000 men and women golf professional members...
's decision to no longer host events at segregated clubs. Upon the article's publication, Graham was named Young Lawyer of the Year by the National Bar Association
National Bar Association
The National Bar Association was established in 1925 as the "Negro Bar Association" after Gertrude Rush, George H. Woodson, S. Joe Brown, James B. Morris, and Charles P. Howard, Sr. were denied membership in the American Bar Association. It represents the interests of African-American attorneys in...
, and several city bar associations around the nation adopted policies that discouraged member firms from hosting events or conducting business with clubs that did not permit women, minorities or Jews.
Graham has appeared on numerous TV programs including Charlie Rose, The Oprah Winfrey Show
The Oprah Winfrey Show
The Oprah Winfrey Show is an American syndicated talk show hosted and produced by its namesake Oprah Winfrey. It ran nationally for 25 seasons beginning in 1986, before concluding in 2011. It is the highest-rated talk show in American television history....
, Today Show, The View, Hardball with Chris Matthews
Hardball with Chris Matthews
Hardball with Chris Matthews is a talk show on MSNBC, broadcast weekdays at 5 and 7 PM hosted by Chris Matthews. It originally aired on now-defunct America's Talking and later CNBC. The current title was derived from a book Matthews wrote in 1988, Hardball: How Politics Is Played Told by One Who...
, and Good Morning America
Good Morning America
Good Morning America is an American morning news and talk show that is broadcast on the ABC television network; it debuted on November 3, 1975. The weekday program airs for two hours; a third hour aired between 2007 and 2008 exclusively on ABC News Now...
, and has been profiled in USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
, Time Magazine, Ebony, and People Magazine. He is a popular speaker at colleges, corporations and other institutions where he has addressed the issues of education, diversity and American culture. His audiences have included Duke University
Duke University
Duke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco industrialist James B...
, UCLA, Howard, Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
, Kraft Foods
Kraft Foods
Kraft Foods Inc. is an American confectionery, food and beverage conglomerate. It markets many brands in more than 170 countries. 12 of its brands annually earn more than $1 billion worldwide: Cadbury, Jacobs, Kraft, LU, Maxwell House, Milka, Nabisco, Oscar Mayer, Philadelphia, Trident, Tang...
, Corning, Xerox
Xerox
Xerox Corporation is an American multinational document management corporation that produced and sells a range of color and black-and-white printers, multifunction systems, photo copiers, digital production printing presses, and related consulting services and supplies...
, Disney, American Jewish Committee
American Jewish Committee
The American Jewish Committee was "founded in 1906 with the aim of rallying all sections of American Jewry to defend the rights of Jews all over the world...
, the American Library Association
American Library Association
The American Library Association is a non-profit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with more than 62,000 members....
and other organizations around the U.S. and Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. His research and advice have appeared in The Wall Street Journal. He launched a campaign to get the U.S. Postal Service to honor Senator Blanche Bruce on a stamp since the nation has never placed a black elected official on a stamp. A former adjunct professor at Fordham University
Fordham University
Fordham University is a private, nonprofit, coeducational research university in the United States, with three campuses in and around New York City. It was founded by the Roman Catholic Diocese of New York in 1841 as St...
, Graham has taught African American Studies
African American studies
African American studies is a subset of Black studies or Africana studies. It is an interdisciplinary academic field devoted to the study of the history, culture, and politics of African Americans...
as well as American Government. A lifelong resident of Westchester County (NY), Graham appears weekly as a political commentator on News 12, and also writes Westchester Magazine
Westchester Magazine
Westchester Magazine is a magazine and website that covers news, culture, life style, nightlife, shopping and other local information in Westchester County in New York State. It is published monthly. It was formerly called Spotlight Magazine. It is published by Spotlight Publications, LLC, a...
s online political column "Point of View". He is chairman of the Westchester County Police Board and has served on boards including Red Cross of Westchester, the Boy Scouts
Boy Scouts of America
The Boy Scouts of America is one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with over 4.5 million youth members in its age-related divisions...
, Princeton Center for Leadership Training, Jack & Jill Foundation, and Council on Economic Priorities. Graham is Editor at Large of Uptown Magazine.
Graham is a trustee of SUNY Purchase College Foundation and the Horace Mann School
Horace Mann School
Horace Mann School is an independent college preparatory school in New York City, New York, United States founded in 1887 known for its rigorous course of studies. Horace Mann is a member of the Ivy Preparatory School League, educating students from all across the New York tri-state area from...
and is married to the corporate executive, Pamela Thomas-Graham
Pamela Thomas-Graham
Pamela Thomas-Graham is an African American businesswoman and corporate leader. She is a senior executive at Credit Suisse, where she serves on the bank's 11-member Executive Board.-Life:...
, who is the author of several books including Blue Blood and Orange Crushed. They live in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
and Westchester County, New York, and they have three children.
Books
- The Senator and the Socialite: The True Story of America's First Black Dynasty
This is the true story of America’s first black dynasty and follows three generations of a family that rose from slavery to the U.S. Senate. Born a Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
slave in 1841, Blanche Kelso Bruce amassed a real estate
Real estate
In general use, esp. North American, 'real estate' is taken to mean "Property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals, or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this; an item of real property; buildings or...
fortune and became the first black to serve a full Senate term. He married Josephine Willson, the daughter of a wealthy black doctor, and they broke racial barriers as a socialite
Socialite
A socialite is a person who participates in social activities and spends a significant amount of time entertaining and being entertained at fashionable upper-class events....
couple in 1880s Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
By hosting white Republicans and blacks like President Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant was the 18th President of the United States as well as military commander during the Civil War and post-war Reconstruction periods. Under Grant's command, the Union Army defeated the Confederate military and ended the Confederate States of America...
and Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass was an American social reformer, orator, writer and statesman. After escaping from slavery, he became a leader of the abolitionist movement, gaining note for his dazzling oratory and incisive antislavery writing...
, Bruce gained appointments under four Presidents, culminating with a US Treasury post which placed his name on all U.S. currency.
- Our Kind of People: Inside America's Black Upper Class
Debutante cotillions. Million-dollar homes. Summers in Martha’s Vineyard and Sag Harbor. Membership in the Links, Jack and Jill
Jack and Jill
Jack and Jill may refer to:* "Jack and Jill" -Media:* Jack and Jill, an adult film featuring Jack Wrangler* Jack & Jill * Jack and Jill , a 2011 film starring Adam Sandler* Jack and Jill...
, Deltas, Boule, and AKAs. An obsession with the right schools, families, churches, social clubs, and skin complexion. This is the world of the black upper class and the focus of the first book written about the black elite by a member of this hard-to-penetrate group.
- Member of The Club: Reflections on Life in a Polarized World
Member of the Club was Lawrence Otis Graham’s 11th book, but it was the one that brought national recognition to his smart and insightful essays on race, class and politics. This book is best known for revealing Graham’s experience of leaving his successful corporate law practice at one of New York’s largest law firms in order to go undercover as a busboy at a famous Connecticut country club that discriminates against African Americans, Jews, Hispanics, Asians and women. An excerpt of this book appeared on the cover of New York Magazine and made it their best-selling issue in the publication’s history.
- Proversity: Getting Past Face Value
Coming Soon