Title
Commemorating the life of legal aid giant and former Pennsylvania Secretary of Education Thomas Gilhool, a founding figure for community legal services, education equity, and the rights of the disabled and the poor, who led a rollicking life in pursuit of law and justice through eight decades of Philadelphia history.
Body
WHEREAS, Thomas K. Gilhool, renowned for his natty bow ties, piles of paperwork, and a creative and passionate approach to the law, was born in 1938 in Ardmore, Pennsylvania to a close-knit family of Pennsylvania miners. His father passed away when Gilhool was 16, and Gilhool's 10-year-old brother, Bob, whom he deeply loved, was then sent to live at the former Pennhurst State School and Hospital, a notorious residential facility for the developmentally disabled - a decision Gilhool said was to his "everlasting shame"; and
WHEREAS, Gilhool earned his bachelor's degree from Lehigh University in 1960 and both his master's degree in Political Science and law degree from Yale University in 1964, where he met his beloved wife, Gillian. During these years, Gilhool spent time at the Berean Institute in North Philadelphia, a center for vocational training for Black Philadelphians and worked with Marian Wright Edelman and Peter Countryman as one of the founders of the Northern Student Movement, a group working to advance civil rights in affiliation with the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). Inspired by these experiences, Gilhool established the Philadelphia Tutoring Project, connecting college students with Black middle and high school students, launching a lifelong pursuit of education equity and justice; and
WHEREAS, After graduating from Yale, Gilhool returned to Philadelphia and joined the law firm Dilworth Paxson, where he worked with Cecil B. Moore on the case to desegregate Girard College. In 1966, Gilhool became one of the first attorneys to join the newly-created Community Legal Services (CLS), the first public intere...
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