Anita Hill's Kevo

Anita Hill grew up on a farm in Southeastern Oklahoma, the youngest of 13 children. She attended public schools where she was a member of Homemakers of America. Popular, pretty and bright, she was valedictorian of her high school graduating class and went on to graduate with honors in psychology from Oklahoma State University. She then attended Yale Law School with the help of a NAACP scholarship, graduating in 1980. She began her legal career with a Washington D.C. law firm.

In 1981, she took a job with the US Department of Education, where she worked with Justice Clarence Thomas. When Thomas went on to the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 1982, she continued with him as his Special Assistant. When she accompanied Thomas to a civil rights seminar in Tulsa in 1983, the dean of the law school at Oral Roberts University offered her a professorship. She accepted. In 1986, when that school of law moved, she continued her teaching career at the University of Oklahoma Law School in Norman.

Ten years later, when it looked likely that the nomination of Clarence Thomas would pass the Senate Judiciary Committee, Hill privately approached committee members to tell them of alleged incidents in which she accused Thomas of sexual abuse. The situation escalated into four days of painful and publicly-televised testimony before that committee. Thomas enthusiastically and unconditionally denied Hill's charges. Hill looked equally candid and certain of her position. The hearings became a media circus, with both parties seeming equally sincere and truthful. There were no witnesses to corroborate either side. The Committee chose not to recommend Thomas but the Senate confirmed his appointment to the Supreme Court in a 52-48 vote.

Since that time, Thomas has gone on to serve on the Supreme Court and Hill has continued teaching and embarked on a public speaking career. She is considered a major advocate on women's rights and sexual harassment. She publishes papers and articles and regularly appears as speaker on those issues at universities and conferences.

She left her post at the University of Oklahoma Law School in 1996 to take a visiting professorship at the Institute for Study of Social Change at the University of California in Berkeley.
Work History
US Dept Education 1981-82

US Equal Opportunity Commission 1982-83

Oral Roberts University law professor 1983-1986

University of Oklahoma law professor 1986-96

visiting professorship at the Institute for Study of Social Change at the University of California in Berkeley 1996-