ABOUT THE TRUST
The trust’s activities reflect the life and commitments of its grantor. John DeWitt Gregory attended Howard University and Harvard Law School. He began his career practicing law in Harlem and was later appointed general counsel and executive director of Community Action for Legal Services, Inc., the largest government-financed network of neighborhood law offices in the nation. In 1971, he accepted a faculty position at Hofstra Law School, where he was involved in founding the law school’s clinical program, which began with the idea of serving the underprivileged local community and inculcating law students with a commitment to pro bono service. He also served for more than three decades on the board of the National Center for Law and Economic Justice, an anti-poverty organization.
The John DeWitt Gregory Charitable Trust will operate exclusively for charitable, educational and religious purposes in accordance with Section 501(c)(3). Specifically, it is a grant-making entity with a focus on supporting organizations dedicated to civil rights, human rights, education, health, and the arts. The trustee, Joanna Grossman, works to identify worthy recipients and determine appropriate levels of support. The trustee considers the organization’s approach to addressing a social problem such as poverty or racism, the efficiency with which the organization operates, and the likely impact of a gift from the trust. Preference will be given to organizations that have a demonstrated ability to effectuate social change. Although major national organizations will sometimes be selected to receive donations from the trust, the trustee will focus on identifying organizations that serve the interests the grantor cared about but are new, innovative, underfunded, or underappreciated.
ABOUT JOHN GREGORY
John Dewitt Gregory, Distinguished Emeritus Professor of Law at Hofstra University, died peacefully in his West Village apartment in Manhattan on July 27, 2020. He was 89.
He was perhaps the first African-American professor appointed as Vice-Dean of a law school when he assumed duties at Hofstra in 1986. He was asked by founding dean Malachy Mahon to become a member of the faculty in 1971, in its second year, and he remained at Hofstra for his entire academic career. He held the Sidney and Walter Siben Distinguished Professor of Family Law chair from 1986 until his transition to emeritus status in 2013. He was the co-author of Understanding Family Law, and frequently wrote on child custody and visitation issues.
John was no stranger to the challenges of pioneering. He was born and educated in Glen Cove, Long Island, and he graduated from Howard University in 1952. He went on to serve in the Korean War, and eventually graduated Harvard Law School in 1959, at a time when minority enrollment was very low Before entering academia, he worked in private practice in Manhattan and served as an Assistant Attorney General for the State of New York. As the Executive Director of the Nassau County law Services Committee, he organized and staffed the program from its inception in 1966. From 1967 to 1971, he served as the Executive Director and General Counsel of the Community Action for Legal Services.
He served on the board for several organizations throughout his life, including the National Center on Law and Economic Justice (NCLEJ), New York and American Civil Liberties Unions, Legal Aid Society of Nassau County, and the National Advisory Board of the Black American Law Students Association. He was honored by the NCLEJ in 2009.
Anyone who has ever encountered John would agree that he was fearlessly opinionated. He suffered no fools and minced no words. He had no hesitation to throw his rich baritone voice in the dialectical and contentious pool of faculty meetings, and he was known for his directness in dealing with colleagues. Bennett Capers, a colleague at Hofstra, said, “You always knew exactly where you stood with John, and he often said things that others were too shy or fearful to say themselves.”
John Gregory embodied a classic professorial gravitas worthy of central casting. He regularly wore three-piece suits topped off with Sigmund Freud glasses and a colorful bow tie, and in his later years, he leaned on a hand carved shillelagh for balance. He was one of the very few people who looked completely natural with steepled hands. He was an original cigar aficionado, until his favorite home health care worker, Princess, convinced him to quit. He deeply admired the creative works of Stanley Kubrick, James Baldwin, Derrick Bell, and Lin-Manuel Miranda, and he was a lifelong fan of all genres of dance. (Rumor has it a faculty colleague once complained about noise coming from his office, which turned out be John’s tap dancing.) His favorite breakfast spot was Coppelia, a Cuban diner on 14th street in Manhattan, where the waitstaff knew to greet him with a “Good morning, Professor.”
As he wrote about defining the parameters of the modern family, he also lived it. He is survived by one brother, Ronald Aldwin Gregory; a niece, Carol Gregory; a nephew, Curtis Gregory; and other relatives. He also surrounded himself with the regular company of Alafair Burke, Bennett Capers, Cheryl Wade, Kevin Maillard, and Ricardo Nelson. His closest and most devoted friend, Joanna Grossman, often explained their relationship to disbelieving onlookers as “healthcare proxy.”
John relished in measuring his own age to that of the Empire State Building, which opened for the first time a month after he was born on April 5, 1931. For nearly 40 years it reigned as the tallest building in the world, which was roughly the duration of John’s career as a law professor—a fitting measurement for a lifelong breaker of barriers.
Written by Kevin Noble Maillard
