Marilyn J. Holifield
AUTHOR

Marilyn J. Holifield

History
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About Marilyn Holifield While growing up in Tallahassee, Florida, Marilyn’s quiet burning spirit inspired her to challenge doors closed by Jim Crow laws and Old South traditions. Her curiosity and belief in equality motivated her to be one of the first three black students to enter Tallahassee’s all-white public high school. Undeterred by racial hatred, daily verbal abuse and isolation, her optimism and family’s encouragement fueled her desire to explore broader experiences Up North offered by Quaker-influenced Swarthmore College. Marilyn’s story reveals persistence at Swarthmore and beyond to lift invisibility from excluded histories, cultures and voices to transform the status quo. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics and an inaugural Concentration in Black Studies from Swarthmore. After graduating from Harvard Law School, she joined the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund to enforce recently enacted Civil Rights laws. Marilyn’s unrelenting determination prompted her to enter doors closed by white collar traditions of corporate America and join Holland & Knight, an international law firm that traces its Florida origins to the 1890s. At Holland & Knight, she was its first black attorney and became the first black female partner at a major law firm in Florida. Marilyn has received numerous awards for public service and contributions to the legal profession, including the Chesterfield Smith Award, Holland & Knight’s highest honor, and the National Bar Association Gertrude Rush Award. Marilyn is a Senior Partner at Holland & Knight. She lives in Miami and serves on governing boards of Harvard University, Swarthmore College and University of Miami. She is cofounder of the Miami Museum of Contemporary Art of the African Diaspora, which seeks to create a premier museum to showcase contemporary art of the Diaspora and blend technology and art to modernize the museum experience.
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