of legal services for the poor, the rights of the elderly, and the House's expulsion of Representative Adam Clayton Powell Jr., Democrat of New York. He was active in the D.C. Bar, serving on the Board of Governors from 1975-1978 and a term as president in 1979–1980, and in the American Bar Association. In 1999 he received the highest honor bestowed by the ABA, the ABA Medal, for "conspicuous service in the cause of American jurisprudence." He received other awards noting his work in the areas of civil rights, social justice, and the needs of the elderly. His first wife was Elsa Mueller Pickering of Newark, New Jersey, to whom he was married for 47 years and who died in 1988. He married his second wife, Helen Patton Wright, widow of Judge J. Skelly Wright of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, in 1990. He was survived by his wife Helen, two daughters, Victoria Pickering of Bethesda, Maryland and Leslie Pickering Francis of Salt Lake City, Utah, a stepson, James S. Wright Jr. of Washington, D.C., and five grandchildren, and predeceased by one grandchild. His one million dollar philanthropic gift to the University of Michigan was used to establish a Frank Murphy seminar room. Sources New York Times, March 22, 2005, "John H. Pickering, 89, a Founder of a Leading U.S. Law Firm, Is Dead" John H. Pickering Dies at 89; Attorney Co-Founded D.C. Firm Firm Mourns Loss of John H. Pickering Commemoration and Dedication, Lloyd N. Cutler and John H. Pickering, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Door LLP, Sept. 6, 2006 See also List of law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States (Seat 10) Washington Lawyer (magazine published by D.C. Bar), May 2005, "John Pickering Dies" References External links Law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States Lawyers from Washington, D.C. 1916 births 2005 deaths University of Michigan Law School alumni People from Harrisburg, Illinois Cravath, Swaine & Moore people Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr partners 20th-century American lawyers