People, Locations, Episodes

The Supreme Court Upholds Plessy v. Ferguson

On this date in 1896, the Supreme Court upheld Plessy v. Ferguson. This “separate but equal” Louisiana decree marked the formal beginning of Jim Crow Laws and an end to Reconstruction.

Theodore Boone, Lawyer born.

Theodore Sylvester Boone was born on this date in 1896. He was an African American attorney, pastor, author, and editor.

Born in Winchester, Texas, Boone was the son of Alexander and Lillian (Chaney) Boone. He attended Terrell High School in Terrell, Texas, and a number of universities, including Prairie View A&M and Bishop College in Texas. From 1918 to 1920, he studied at Des Moines University and the University of Iowa. In 1921, one year after graduation, he wrote a book titled “Paramount Facts in Race Development.”

Alfred Gomes, Lawyer and Activist born

*Alfred J. Gomes was born on this date in 1897. He was an African American Attorney, and activist.

Sadie Alexander, Lawyer born

On this date Sadie Alexander, an African American lawyer and activist was born in in 1898.

Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander was a pioneer among Black women in United States law and education, and a committed civil rights activist. She was born in Philadelphia into an accomplished family. She was educated in Philadelphia and Washington D.C. Alexander graduated from M Street High School (now Dunbar high school) in Washington, and entered the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Education in 1915. Graduating in 1918, she helped found the gamma Chapter of the Delta Theta Sorority.

The ‘Grandfather Clause’ is Enacted

*On this date in 1898, the “Grandfather Clause” was enacted for voting purposes.

The Grandfather Clause was a legal or constitutional mechanism passed by seven Southern states during reconstruction to deny suffrage to black Americans. It meant that those who had enjoyed the right to vote prior to 1867, or their lineal descendants, would be exempt from educational, property, or tax requirements for voting. As a result, even if they met all the requirements, they were not allowed to vote.

Williams v. B.O.E. is Decided

*On this date in 1898, Williams v. Board of Education was decided.  This landmark civil rights and education case was before the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals. In Williams v. Board of Education, black lawyer J.R. Clifford argued against the 1892 Tucker County Board of Education’s decision to shorten the school year for African American schoolchildren from nine […]

Alexander Tureaud, Lawyer born

*Alexander Tureaud was born on this date in 1899. He was an African American Attorney and civil rights leader.

Alexander Pierre Tureaud, Sr. grew up at 907 Kerlerac Street, one block below Esplanade, at the bend of Dauphine in New Orleans’ Seventh Ward, known as the black Creole community. His father, Louis Tureaud, was a carpenter/contractor and his mother Eugenia was a housewife and part-time domestic. There were eleven children, six boys and five girls. The family attended St. Augustine Catholic Church.

Clifford Durr, Attorney born

*The birth of Clifford Durr in 1899 is marked on this date. He was a White American lawyer.

Z. A. Looby, Lawyer, and Businessman born

*Z. Alexander Looby was born on his date in 1899. He was an African American lawyer and businessman.

Eunice Carter, Prosecutor born.

Eunice Hunton Carter was born on this date in 1899. She was an African American lawyer and the first Black woman to be a district attorney in the state of New York.

Hubert Delany, Lawyer, and Judge born

*Hubert Delany was born on this date in 1901. He was a Black lawyer, politician, and judge. From North Carolina, Hubert Thomas Delany was the eighth of ten children born to the Rev. Henry Beard Delany and Nannette James Logan Delany, an educator. His father was born into slavery in St. Mary’s, Georgia. Delany was born and […]

Loren Miller, Lawyer, and Judge born

*Loren Miller was born on this date in 1903. He was an African American journalist, civil rights activist, attorney and judge.

He was born in Pender, Nebraska to former slave, John Miller, and Nora Herbaugh, a White Midwesterner of Dutch ancestry. Miller attended Kansas University and received his law degree from Washburn Law School in Topeka, Kansas in 1928.

Ronald Davies, Lawyer and Judge born

*Ronald Davies was born on this date in 1904. He was a white-American lawyer and Judge who was born in Grand Forks, ND. A 1922 Grand Forks Central High School graduate, he received a bachelor’s degree from the University of North Dakota in 1927. Davies attended law school at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., graduating […]

Leon Jordan, Teacher, and Police Detective born

Leon Jordan was born on this date in 1905. He was an African American teacher, police detective and politician.

Born in Kansas City, MO., Jordan graduated from Wilberforce University, in Wilberforce, Ohio, and later worked as a social caseworker and teacher. In 1938, he joined the Kansas City Police Department, aftrer 16 years becoming the first African American to achieve the rank of lieutenant. He was granted an extended leave of absence in 1947, and lived for eight years in the West African country of Liberia, where he reorganized a 450-man police force.

Robert Nix Sr., Congressman born

*Robert Nelson Cornelius Nix Sr., was born on this date in 1905. He was an African American politician and the first Black congressman from Pennsylvania,