Merced native Charles Ogletree, 70, Harvard law professor, mentor to President Obama dies

Shawn Jansen
·3 min read
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Charles Ogletree, a Merced native who became a Harvard Law professor and mentored President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama, died on Friday after a seven-year battle with Alzheimer’s disease.

Ogletree’s family was by his side at his home in Maryland when he passed away. He was 70.

Born in Merced in 1952, Ogletree was the son of Charles Sr. and Willie Mae Ogletree. His family, including his grandparents, were migrant workers, often picking figs for a living, according to the Sun-Star archives.

Ogletree left Merced to pursue his education, earning a master’s from Stanford University and juris doctorate from Harvard Law School.

During his career he focused on advancing civil rights, racial justice and social tolerance and was an influential writer and scholar in the legal profession.

According to UC Merced professor Nigel Hatton, Ogletree’s papers, spanning his Harvard career as scholar, teacher, and legal theorist from 1985 to 2000, and comprising 500 boxes of letters, legal files, and academic course materials, were donated to Harvard Law School by his family in 2022. Ogletree retired from Harvard Law School in 2020.

Harvard Law School Dean John F. Manning shared news of Ogletree’s death in a message to the campus community Friday, according to the Associated Press.

“Charles was a tireless advocate for civil rights, equality, human dignity, and social justice,” Manning said in the message that the law school emailed to the Associated Press. “He changed the world in so many ways, and he will be sorely missed in a world that very much needs him.”

Merced Native Charles Ogletree, Jr., who is a professor of law at Harvard University, was honored at UC Merced Tuesday, May 8, 2007, when he received the Inaugural Alice and Clifford Spendlove Prize in Social Justice, Diplomacy and Tolerance.
Merced Native Charles Ogletree, Jr., who is a professor of law at Harvard University, was honored at UC Merced Tuesday, May 8, 2007, when he received the Inaugural Alice and Clifford Spendlove Prize in Social Justice, Diplomacy and Tolerance.

Among the many highlights during Ogletrees legal career, he represented survivors of the Tulsa Race Massacre and the rapper Tupak Shakur in criminal and civil cases.

Ogletree also represented Anita Hill when she accused Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment during Thomas’ Senate confirmation hearings as a U.S. Supreme Court justice in 1991.

The Merced County Courthouse was named the “Charles James Ogletree Jr. Courthouse” in his honor this past February.

“I think that’s the one thing he was most proud of,” said his brother Richard Ogletree. “Even though he’s received other awards, he mentored Barack and Michelle Obama when he was at Harvard, he’s been around Al Sharpton, he’s shared the stage with people like Nelson Mandela and Bill Clinton, the fact that his hometown honored him meant the world to him.”

In 2005, Ogletree was the keynote speaker for the UC Merced campus convocation and opening ceremony.

“His speech is one of the founding documents of the university,” Hatton wrote.

The Charles James Ogletree Jr. Courthouse in Merced.
The Charles James Ogletree Jr. Courthouse in Merced.

Ogletree was the first recipient of UC Merced’s Alice and Clifford Spendlove Prize in Social Justice, Diplomacy and Tolerance. in 2006. Over the years, other recipients of the award include former President Jimmy Carter, the Dalai Lama, Cruz Reynoso, Anita Hill and others.

As a professor at Harvard Law, Ogletree inspired many generations of students, including the Obamas

In a column he wrote for the Sun-Star in 2009, Ogletree described the president and first lady as “exceptionally gifted students” during their time at Harvard.

“I met Michelle in 1985 and Barack in 1988, and this journey has had many sweet victories and a few bitter defeats, but nothing will match the joy of being a kid born and raised in Merced finding himself 56 years later serving as a senior adviser and mentor to the President of the United States of America,” Ogletree wrote.

The Obamas released a statement after Ogletree’s death.

“Michelle and I are heartbroken to hear about the passing of our friend and mentor Charles Ogletree,” Obama said in the statement.

Ogletree is survived by his wife of 47 years, Pamela Barnes; his two children, Charles J. Ogletree III and Rashida Ogletree-George; and four grandchildren.