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UH LAW CENTER GRADUATE BURKE ’12 RECOGNIZED BY

NATIONAL LEGAL PUBLICATION FOR CLEAN ENERGY EFFORTS

he National Law Journal named enforcement matters such as a toxic environment, conventional
TUniversity of Houston Law oil and gas problems, hydraulic fueling, and solar and offshore
Center alumna Marcella Burke wind development.
’12 to its fifth annual Energy and “Tenacity and always questioning with a ‘what-if’ mentality has
Environmental Trailblazers list, inspired me throughout my career, but in government especially,”
recognizing her initiative and drive Burke said. “I have held two senior positions in the federal government
to creatively utilize the environment and bringing a mentality of challenging the status quo to the federal
to meet the public’s need for government gave me an opportunity to provide a true public service
affordable, clean energy. and hopefully blaze trails in government efficiency and accountability.”
“I have always seen the energy Burke served as senior counselor and deputy solicitor at the U.S.
industry as the number one lever Department of the Interior and deputy general counsel at the
out of poverty globally,” Burke Environmental Protection Agency before becoming partner at King &
stated. “Texans are proud of parks Spalding and developing a global Energy Transition Initiative focused
Marcella Burke, a and wildlife, so the energy and on the ever-expanding market for diversified sources of clean energy.
member of the University environmental combination was just
of Houston Law Center’s meant to be.” The Trailblazer series was created by the National Law Journal to “pay
Class of 2012 One of only 27 energy and tribute to some of the great minds impacting the crucial intersection
of energy production and the environment,” and prompt an uprising
environmental law practitioners in change among others. It highlighted Burke’s representation of the
in the U.S. named as a Trailblazer, Burke specializes in energy and balance between clean energy and affordable energy and the essential
environmental issues and represents companies in regulatory and production updates needed to make clean energy accessible to all. ^

BLACK HISTORY MONTH KEYNOTE SPEAKER BURR TRACES ROOTS

OF FREE BLACK PEOPLE IN AMERICA'S ANTEBELLUM PERIOD

niversity of New Mexico School of Law Professor Emerita Sherri of slaves were granted their
UL. Burr shared the ancestral history of Africans in America before freedom either by deed or will.
the Civil War era in her presentation “Genealogical Research into “This growing number caused
America’s Antebellum Past: The Challenges of Finding the Enslaved, consternation in the Virginia
the Free, and Enslavers.” legislature,” Burr said. “In 1802,
Burr used her book, “Complicated Lives: Free Blacks in Virginia, Virginia legislators passed a law
1619-1865,” as the focus of her talk. Part of the history of free Black requiring slaves granted freedom
people in the U.S. can be traced to two Dutch ships that arrived in to leave Virginia within a year
1619 in what is now considered Virginia, which eventually led to the and a day of receiving their
first permanent settlement of Africans in this country. emancipation or manumission.
“The first census was in 1790, but in Virginia and Maryland there They also passed a companion
were some census records that show Virginia had 1,800 free Blacks in law that if free Blacks left University of New Mexico
a census taken around 1755,” Burr said. “By 1790, Virginia had 12,766 Virginia to obtain an education in School of Law Professor
free Blacks, which included my ancestors, and Maryland had 8,000. the North, they could not return Emerita Sherri L. Burr served
Throughout the entire Antebellum Period, there were always more to the state. That also encouraged the keynote speaker at the
free Blacks in the South than the North. people to keep their family close. University of Houston Law
If they sent their children away,
“Once people received their freedom they were in a community with they could not come back.” Center’s annual Black History
Month lecture in February.
relatives, and they didn’t want to leave the territory. For others, how
would they know what they’re going to? Unless they had some kind After hearing Burr present part
of access to knowing about other places, they tended to stay put.” of her research in 2018, the Aaron Burr Association unanimously
voted to acknowledge that Aaron Burr fathered two children of color
Burr said that following the Revolutionary war, many plantation with Mary Emmons and that all their descendants were legitimate
owners started freeing their slaves. From 1786-1802, thousands members of the Fairfield Branch of the Burr Family. ^

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