The Leland Ware Special Collection on Civil Rights and Social Justice recently opened at the University of Delaware Morris Library.
Professor Ware, the inaugural holder of the Louis L. Redding Chair for the Study of Law and Public Policy at the University of Delaware, passed away earlier this year at the age of 77. He held his endowed appointment from 2000 until his retirement in 2023. The position’s namesake, Louis L. Redding, was the first African American admitted to the Delaware Bar. In a 1950 case, Redding represented 10 Black students who, after having been denied admission to the University of Delaware, enrolled at historically Black Delaware State College (now University). This case, Parker v. University of Delaware, resulted in the desegregation of the University of Delaware four years before Brown v. Board of Education.
As a scholar, Professor Ware was known for his work on civil rights and civil liberties law, employment law, and constitutional law. He authored several books throughout his career, including the recently published Policies That Perpetuate Inequality: Colorblind Bias (Bloomsbury Academic, 2026), a collection of essays examining how race-neutral policies often reinforce, rather than remediate, systemic inequality. The new Leland Ware Special Collection features some of Professor Ware’s most significant works, tracing the arc of civil rights and social justice history.
Speaking to Professor Ware’s influential career in education, Delaware State University President Tony Allen said, “He shared a mantra that many of his students live by today: the ideal scholar thinks like a poet, works like a bookkeeper and writes like a journalist. That has shaped many of the servant leaders who were under Leland’s mentorship.”
During a ceremony celebrating the collection’s launch, Professor Ware’s family announced they had established the Dr. Leland Ware Graduate Research Assistantship, which will support graduate researchers at the University of Delaware who are working in special collections, with an emphasis on civil rights and social justice.
