Adam's Mark Settles Case

For Immediate Release

Tuesday, 4 December 2001 - 3:00 p.m. EST

Contact: Lee W. Formwalt
OAH Executive Director
(812) 855-7311

Bloomington, Ind. As part of a larger settlement over a discrimination case with five African American college students and the NAACP, the Adam's Mark Hotel chain has dropped its $100,000 lawsuit against the Organization of American Historians (OAH).

On Monday, 3 December, the hotel agreed to pay $2 million to settle the suit brought by five students who had charged the Adam's Mark hotel in Daytona Beach, Fla., with racial discrimination during the 1999 Black College Reunion weekend. The Florida Attorney General's office and the U.S. Justice Department filed their own suits alleging violations of federal and state civil rights laws.

In response, OAH relocated its 2000 annual conference from the chain's St. Louis hotel to the campus of Saint Louis University. Five months later Adam's Mark sued the OAH for breach of contract.

"We are extremely pleased to have taken a stand against racism and to have reached an end to the past year of legal wrangling," said OAH Executive Director Lee W. Formwalt. "The NAACP deserves our thanks for ensuring that, as part of its settlement with Adam's Mark, the suit against OAH would be dropped. Now we can return, full-focus, to our mission of promoting history education and research."

NAACP Chairman, Julian Bond, also a historian, noted, "The NAACP is thankful for OAH's principled stand against bigotry at great potential cost. In the end, justice prevailed and right triumphed--as history teaches us it often does."

Formwalt added that "OAH is grateful to its members, other scholarly associations, the academic community, and the people of St. Louis for standing by us." More than twenty-five other groups representing a cross section of America had cancelled their events at Adam's Mark hotels in support of the NAACP boycott. As a part of the settlement, Adam's Mark has agreed not to pursue its $3 million in claims against these groups.

OAH is the nation's largest professional association dedicated to the teaching and study of American history. Based in Bloomington, Indiana, its nine thousand members include college and university professors, secondary school teachers, public historians, archivists, and graduate students.

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		Adam's Mark Settles Case

About the Case		For Immediate Release Tuesday, 4 December 2001 - 3:00 p.m. EST Contact: Lee W. Formwalt OAH Executive Director (812) 855-7311 Bloomington, Ind. As part of a larger settlement over a discrimination case with five African American college students and the NAACP, the Adam's Mark Hotel chain has dropped its $100,000 lawsuit against the Organization of American Historians (OAH). On Monday, 3 December, the hotel agreed to pay $2 million to settle the suit brought by five students who had charged the Adam's Mark hotel in Daytona Beach, Fla., with racial discrimination during the 1999 Black College Reunion weekend. The Florida Attorney General's office and the U.S. Justice Department filed their own suits alleging violations of federal and state civil rights laws. In response, OAH relocated its 2000 annual conference from the chain's St. Louis hotel to the campus of Saint Louis University. Five months later Adam's Mark sued the OAH for breach of contract. "We are extremely pleased to have taken a stand against racism and to have reached an end to the past year of legal wrangling," said OAH Executive Director Lee W. Formwalt. "The NAACP deserves our thanks for ensuring that, as part of its settlement with Adam's Mark, the suit against OAH would be dropped. Now we can return, full-focus, to our mission of promoting history education and research." NAACP Chairman, Julian Bond, also a historian, noted, "The NAACP is thankful for OAH's principled stand against bigotry at great potential cost. In the end, justice prevailed and right triumphed--as history teaches us it often does." Formwalt added that "OAH is grateful to its members, other scholarly associations, the academic community, and the people of St. Louis for standing by us." More than twenty-five other groups representing a cross section of America had cancelled their events at Adam's Mark hotels in support of the NAACP boycott. As a part of the settlement, Adam's Mark has agreed not to pursue its $3 million in claims against these groups. OAH is the nation's largest professional association dedicated to the teaching and study of American history. Based in Bloomington, Indiana, its nine thousand members include college and university professors, secondary school teachers, public historians, archivists, and graduate students. # # #
12/4/01