Conditions Governing Use

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.

Conditions Governing Access

No special access restriction applies.

Preferred Citation

[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.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of Charon, Nyles, 2022 January 05.

Biographical / Historical

Regina Charon (1946-2004) was a civil rights lawyer who specialized in unemployment law, sex discrimination law, and LGBT adoption law. Charon obtained her law degree from West Virginia University in 1976 and served as a legal said in the town of Morgantown, West Virginia. In regard to the West Virginia University Council for Women's Concerns, Charon served as a board member. Charon also served as elected president for the Monongalia Bar Association and was also on the board of Legal Aid. Later in her life, Charon was appointed as a State Administrative law judge in unemployment.

While Charon's work was abundant, she is most notably remembered for three cases. The first case was in regard to sex discrimination against West Virginia University and the state of West Virginia. This case won at the Supreme Court level in West Virginia and led to better hiring protocols within the University. Secondly. Charon was involved in an employment case where an individual was fired, which was overturned. Lastly. Charon was heavily involved with the topic of adoption of gay couples in the United States. She developed a way throughout the court for second parent adoptions.

Charon passed away in 2004 after a battle with myelogenous leukemia. Charon's legacy still lives on through the Regina Charon Fellowship for Law and Public Interest within the West Virginia University College of Law. Also, an award was established in her honor for attorneys that advocate for civil rights and justice throughout administration, this award being named the Regina Charon Zealous Advocate Award.

Scope and Contents

The collection includes biographies about Regina Charon's life and life's work as a lawyer, focusing on civil rights; papers regarding the 1977-1978 Council for Women's Concerns, the Regina Charon Zealous Advocate Award, and fellowships; and photocopies of various issues of the West Virginia University College of Law newsletter from 1975. The collection also includes photographs of Regina Charon's life from childhood through adulthood.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• Charon, Regina
• Civil rights -- United States
• Gay adoption--Law and legislation
• Lawyers - letters and papers.
• Sex discrimination in employment
• Welfare - West Virginia.
• West Virginia Feminist Activist Collection
• Women lawyers