Clarence Darrow

Lore & Background

Clarence Darrow was born in Farmdale, Ohio, and raised in Kinsman, Ohio, where his father, an ardent abolitionist and religious freethinker, was known as the “village infidel,” and his mother was an early supporter of female suffrage. He studied at Allegheny College and the University of Michigan Law School but did not graduate from either, instead reading law in an office and passing the Ohio bar in 1878. After practicing in small Ohio towns, he moved to Chicago in 1888, eventually working as a railroad lawyer before severing ties to represent labor leader Eugene V. Debs during the Pullman Strike. Darrow became a leading labor attorney, helping organize the Populist Party in Illinois and running for Congress as a Democrat. He was a prominent member of the American Civil Liberties Union and a noted public speaker, debater, and writer. His high-profile cases included the Leopold and Loeb murder trial, the Scopes “monkey” trial, and the Ossian Sweet defense. Called a “sophisticated country lawyer,” his wit and eloquence made him one of the nation’s most prominent attorneys and civil libertarians. He is considered by some legal analysts to be the greatest lawyer of the 20th century and was posthumously inducted into the Trial Lawyer Hall of Fame.

Reader's Guide

Clarence Darrow’s career and public persona were defined by a dramatic shift from representing corporate interests to championing labor and civil liberties. After initially working as an attorney for a railway company, he severed those ties in 1894 to defend Eugene V. Debs, the leader of the American Railway Union, during the Pullman Strike, a move that came at a personal financial cost. Darrow saved Debs in one trial but could not prevent his imprisonment in another. That same year, he took on his first murder case, defending Patrick Eugene Prendergast, a mentally unstable drifter who had confessed to killing Chicago’s mayor. Darrow’s insanity defense failed, and Prendergast was executed—the only execution among the approximately fifty murder cases Darrow would handle over his career. He became a leading labor attorney, helping to organize the Populist Party in Illinois, and represented the woodworkers of Wisconsin in 1898 and the United Mine Workers during the anthracite coal strike of 1902. Darrow was also an active member of the Anti-Imperialist League, opposing U.S. annexation of the Philippines. His high-profile criminal defenses included the Leopold and Loeb murder trial, the Scopes “monkey” trial, and the Ossian Sweet case. Known for his wit and eloquence, Darrow was a prominent public speaker, debater, and writer, and a leading member of the American Civil Liberties Union. He is considered by some legal analysts to be the greatest lawyer of the 20th century and was posthumously inducted into the Trial Lawyer Hall of Fame.

Did You Know?

• Darrow was the fifth son of Amirus and Emily Darrow, and grew up in Kinsman, Ohio, where his father was called the 'village infidel' and his mother was an early supporter of female suffrage.
• In 1894, Darrow represented Eugene V. Debs in the Pullman Strike case and took on his first murder case defending Patrick Eugene Prendergast, which resulted in the only execution among his fifty murder defenses.
• Darrow helped organize the Populist Party in Illinois and represented the McNamara brothers in the Los Angeles Times bombing case, securing a plea bargain that spared them the death penalty.
• He was posthumously inducted into the Trial Lawyer Hall of Fame and described as a 'sophisticated country lawyer' whose wit and eloquence made him one of the most prominent attorneys and civil libertarians in the nation.