William O. Douglas
William O. Douglas Law '25 was a Supreme Court justice.
After graduating college, he taught for several years, hoping to save for enrollment in law school. Abandoning that plan, he worked his way toward New York as a railroad sheeptender, with the specific hope of making it to Columbia. When he arrived, he survived on fraternity connections, and managed to borrow the $75 it took to enroll in Columbia Law. Later, strapped for funds, the law school hooked him up with a high-paying job at a Manhattan law firm, which allowed him to make it through. He graduated second in his class, practiced at the firm that would become Cravath for several months, briefly moved back home, came back to Columbia to teach for a period of time, and then joined the law faculty at Yale, where he remained until moving permanently to Washington.
A wilderness in Washington State and a waterfall in North Carolina are named for him.
