Black Law Matters

Rachel Buckley
Aug 3, 2020
7 min read

When I was in Law School at the University of Florida, the administration was obsessed with diversity. It was an obsession that I was perhaps too naive to understand at first. I grew up in Orlando, which was always fairly diverse to me. In public school, you were practicing diversity every day. We just didn’t call it that. We called it school.

But Gainesville, Florida was a different animal. They say sometimes you have to go north to go south, and that was true with Gainesville. I loved the town, and the people were amazing. Everyone was so hardworking, honest, and they were generally good people. However, the lack of integration and the divide in the town is obvious. By the time I left UF, I was proud of how hard the school had worked to have not only a diverse student body, but also a diverse staff of teachers and administrators. In that vein, I want to highlight the successes and contributions of black lawyers and lawmakers throughout history and be a part of the growth I've seen both in the community of my alma mater and all over the world.

Macon Bolling Allen

Macon Bolling Allen is known for being the first African American lawyer and judge. Allen passed the bar exam in 1844, but it was still hard for him to find work because many white people did not want to hire a black attorney during this time. Because of this, Allen moved from Maine to Boston in 1845 and opened his own practice, and it became the first African American law office in the United States.

Even with this move, racism and discrimination made it hard for Allen to earn a living wage, so he took an exam to become a Justice of the Peace, which he passed in 1874. He was the first African American in the United States to hold a judicial position.

John M. Langston

John M. Langston was the first African American admitted to the Ohio Bar. This was after several law schools denied him admission due to his race, so he earned his extensive knowledge of the law working with local abolitionists in Elyria, Ohio.

His involvement in social movements lasted far beyond his work in Elyria, though. Once he was admitted to the Ohio Bar, he established a practice in Brownhelm, and he also served as their township clerk in 1855. This position made him the first African American elected into public office. After this, he continued to speak against segregated facilities, and his aid was requested in drafting Senator Charles Sumner’s Civil Rights Bill. In 1868, Langston returned to DC, where he established Howard University’s law department and served as its first dean.

Charlotte E. Ray

Charlotte E. Ray earned her law degree from Howard University in 1872, and she was admitted to the District of Columbia bar that same year, making her the first woman admitted to practice in the District of Columbia and the first black woman certified to practice law in the United States. Ray was also the third woman of any race to graduate from law school.

Like Macon Bolling Allen, Ray opened her own practice. She worked in Washington DC, but racial prejudices prevented her from making a living wage practicing law. In 1879, she returned to New York City and taught at public schools, and little is known of her life after this time.

Charles H. Houston

The work of Charles H. Houston is paramount to many of the other names on this list. He is the man that laid the groundwork for US Supreme Court rulings outlawing segregation in public schools, and he was also the mentor of Thurgood Marshall during his time at Howard University. He encouraged Marshall to use law as a mechanism for social change, and his wishes for his pupil were apparent in his own work as well. His time at Howard shaped the institution, as he mentored over a quarter of their students. During his time at Howard, the university was also accredited by the American Bar Association and the Association of American Law.

Beyond Howard, Houston also fought against segregation, challenging many of the Jim Crow Laws and serving as special counsel for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Although most of his contributions to the ending of legal segregation were not recognized until after his death, he was rewarded greatly after his time. In 1950, he was posthumously awarded the NAACP’s Spingarn Medal, and the main building of Howard Law School was named after him in 1958.

Jane Bolin

Jane Bolin had always been a studious scholar, and she graduated from Wellesley University at the top of her class. From there, she attended Yale Law School, and she became the first African American woman to earn a degree from this institution in 1931. After working at her family’s firm for a time, she moved to New York to establish a career of her own. She performed assistant corporate counsel work for New York City, and she again became the first African American woman to serve in this position.

In 1939, Bolin took on another landmark role, as she became the first African American female judge in the United States. She worked tirelessly to change segregationist policies within the legal system, and she supported the Wiltwyck School with Eleanor Roosevelt, which aimed to lessen the rates of juvenile crime among boys. Even after her retirement from the bench, Bolin continued to volunteer and support many different educational efforts.

Thurgood Marshall

Thurgood Marshall graduated top of his class from Howard University in 1933. At Howard, he was taught to view law as a mechanism for social change, and this is reflected in many of the cases he represented. For example, one of his first victories in his new practice was Murray v. Pearson (1935), which accused the University of Maryland of violating the Fourteenth Amendment by not allowing an African American applicant into their law program solely because of his race. By 1938, Marshall was the lead chair in the legal office of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and by 1940 he was named Chief of their Legal Defense and Educational Fund.

Marshall proved himself to be one of the top lawyers of his time, winning 32 of the 40 cases he fought before the Court, and he continued to be a driver for social change. The case that cemented this reputation, though, was Brown v. Board in 1954. Marshall was creative in his arguments, successfully refuting the “separate but equal” doctrine established by Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), and he relied on psychological, historical, and sociological evidence to prove that segregation of public schools hindered the progress of African American students, both educationally and socially.

Due to his efforts, the segregation of American public schools was deemed unconstitutional, and he was also nominated to the Supreme Court in 1967 by President Lyndon B. Johnson, making him the first African American Supreme Court Justice.

Leo Branton Jr.

Leo Branton Jr. was an entertainment lawyer and litigator, but his contributions extend far beyond the celebrity sphere. His work during the trial of an African American veteran charged in the double murder of a white couple in Riverside County, paired with him challenging the county’s jury system, led to the introduction of the first black juror in Riverside County. Branton’s celebrity clientele was also extensive, and the list of celebrities he represented includes Nat King Cole, the Platters, Dorothy Dandridge, Inger Stevens, and Dalton Trumbo.

Branton’s contributions to the Civil Rights Movement combined his work with celebrities and his desire for social change, as he worked with many well-known activists and social groups. He defended 13 members of the Los Angeles chapter of the Black Panther Party against an unlawful attack by the LAPD, and he worked to defend civil rights activist Angela Davis, which led to the acquittal of all charges against her.

Yvonne Burke

Yvonne Burke has earned her fair share of accomplishments. In 1966, she became the first African American woman elected to the California Assembly, and in 1972 she became the first African American woman from California elected to the House of Representatives. Not only that, but Burke was the third woman ever elected into this role. As if this wasn’t remarkable enough, Burke continued to soar, serving as the first woman chair in the Congressional Black Caucus. However, the event that is deemed one of her most notable achievements was that she was the first Congresswoman to give birth and be granted maternity leave while serving in Congress.

Throughout her political career, minority interests were at the forefront of her agenda. This was especially important since the issue of discrimination was no longer as apparent as it was in previous generations, but it was still just as prevalent. No longer were African Americans separated from their white peers through segregated schools and facilities, but the black population was still being denied opportunities for social and career growth or advancement solely on the basis of race. She avoided controversy, but she worked tirelessly for the causes she supported, and this included feminist issues as well. Burke was the first treasurer of the Congressional Women’s Caucus, and she introduced the Displaced Homemakers Act designed to support women re-entering the job market after many years of absence. In 1978, she declined re-election to the 96th Congress, and she retired from her final political position as a board member on the LA County Board of Supervisors in 2008.

Paul C. Perkins & Paul C. Perkins Jr.

The most current lawyer on this list, Paul C. Perkins Jr. is a personal injury attorney who is still serving in the Orlando area. His desire to help those less fortunate has led to many successes both in and out of the courtroom, including multiple multi-million dollar settlements obtained for those who have been injured at work or wrongfully denied or underpaid by their insurance providers. Outside of the courtroom, Perkins serves as a missionary and as a volunteer for many organizations, including the Orange County Bar Association Legal Aid Society, the Paul C. Perkins Bar Association, and the Ronald McDonald House Board.

Paul C. Perkins Sr. was a well-respected lawyer in the Orlando area as well, and he was only the second African American lawyer to serve in the area when he began. During the early stages of his career, he served as co-counsel with Thurgood Marshall and Jack Greenberg to defend the “Groveland Four,” four African American men accused of raping a white woman in 1949. In 1965, Perkins Sr. was appointed to serve as the first African American City Prosecutor by Orlando Mayor Robert S. Carr. Perkins Sr. was a lifetime member of the NAACP, and he served on interracial facilities aimed to end the segregation of public facilities in Orlando. He paved the way for his son and many others to continue serving those who cannot defend themselves, and he, along with the other names on this list, should be remembered and honored for the monumental impact they have had on not only our legal system, but also on society as a whole.