Civil rights lawyer and activist Eva Paterson ’75 will receive the Thelton E. Henderson Center for Social Justice’s 2011 Trailblazer for Justice Award at an evening reception Oct. 27 at the Oakland Museum of California. President of the Equal Justice Society, Paterson formerly served as executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, helping the organization provide free legal services to low-income individuals and litigate class action civil rights cases. Past award winners include former U.S. Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights John Doar ’49, former California Supreme Court Justice Cruz Reynoso ’58, and Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton.