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Gift of Charon, Nyles, 2022 January 05.
Gift of Charon, Nyles, 2022 December 01.
Loan of Charon, Nyles, 2022 December 01.
Gift of Hostuttler, Lori, 2024 May 03.
Gift of Charon, Nyles, 2024 July 23.
Regina Charon (1946-2004) was a civil rights lawyer who is best known for her work in unemployment law, sex discrimination law, and LGBT adoption law. Charon obtained her law degree from West Virginia University (WVU) in 1976. At WVU, Charon was an officer in the Phi Alpha Delta legal fraternity and volunteered at West Virginia Legal Aid Society.
After graduation, Charon served as a lawyer at Legal Aid and was appointed in Federal Court to represent the best interests of children in a case involving the Welfare Department. In 1982, Charon left Legal Aid to open her own law practice, specializing in unemployment law. She was appointed as a State Administrative Law Judge in unemployment in 2002.
During her career, Charon was elected president of the Monongalia Bar Association, served as a substitute municipal judge in Morgantown, was on the Board of Legal Aid, and was a member of the West Virginia University Council for Woman Concerns which later established the Department of Women's and Gender Studies at WVU. Charon also provided legal assistance for the establishment of the free clinic, Morgantown Health Right, now known as Milan Puskar Health Right. She also served as president of the Tree of Life Congregation.
Charon passed away from myelogenous leukemia in 2004. To honor her memory, her family and friends established the Regina Charon Fellowship for Law and the Public Interest at WVU Law School, which funds one law student to complete an internship with Legal Aid or Mountain State Justice. The Regina Charon Zealous Advocate Award was also created in her name and was created in collaboration with the State Bar and Legal Aid. The award is given to attorneys who advocate for civil rights.
[Description and date of item], [Box/folder number], Regina Charon, Lawyer, Papers, A&M 4573, West Virginia and Regional History Center, West Virginia University Libraries, Morgantown, West Virginia.
The collection includes biographies about Regina Charon's life and life's work as a lawyer, focusing on civil rights. Topics include the 1977-1978 WVU Council for Women's Concerns, the Regina Charon Zealous Advocate Award, and the Regina Charon Fellowship for Law and the Public Interest. There are photocopies of the
Materials include photographs, newspaper clippings, biographies, obituaries, legal papers, flyers, and signs.
The donor of the collection has transferred rights to the intellectual property they created to the Center. For more information regarding permission to publish or reproduce, please contact the West Virginia and Regional History Center.