People, Locations, Episodes

Matthew J. Perry, Lawyer born

*Matthew J. Perry Jr. was born on this date in 1921. He was a Black attorney and judge. Born in Columbia, South Carolina, Matthew James Perry Jr. attended local segregated schools and started studying business. During World War II in the United States Army, he served from 1943 to 1946. He finished college after the […]

John Douglas, Civil Rights Lawyer born

*John W. Douglas was born on this date in 1921. He was a White American lawyer, political attorney, civil and human rights activist.

John Woolman Douglas was born in Philadelphia, PA. He graduated from Princeton University in 1943 and served in the Navy during World War II. He received a law degree from Yale University in 1948. During this time he married Mary St. John in 1(945). After law school, Douglas attended Oxford University as a Rhodes scholar and received a postgraduate degree in politics, philosophy and economics.

The Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill is Introduced

*On this date, 1922, the Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill was introduced.   It was first introduced in 1918 by Representative Leonidas C. Dyer, a Republican from St. Louis, Missouri, in the United States House of Representatives as H.R. 11279. It was intended to establish lynching as a federal crime. The Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill was re-introduced in subsequent sessions of Congress and passed by the U.S. House of […]

Willie S. Glanton, Politician born

*Willie S. Glanton was born on this date in 1922. She was a Black lawyer and politician. Willie Stevenson was born in Hot Springs, Arkansas, and was the daughter of Ervin S. Stevenson and Willie Ever Parker. She graduated from Tennessee State University and Robert Terrell Law School in Washington, D.C., and was admitted to the Iowa […]

Jewel Stradford, Lawyer born

*Jewel Stradford was born on this date in 1922. She was an African American politician and lawyer.

Gloria St. Clair Hayes Richardson, Activist born

*Gloria St. Clair Hayes Richardson was born on this date in 1922. She was a Black administrator, politician, and activist. Gloria St. Clair Hayes, the only child of John Edwards Hayes and Madel Pauline (St. Clair) Hayes, was from Baltimore, Maryland. Her grandfather, H. Maynadier St. Clair, was a city council member in Cambridge from […]

The United States v. Bhagat Singh Thind is Ruled

*On this date in 1923, United States v. Bhagat Singh Thind ruled that Indians from India were not white in America.

Moore et al. v. Dempsey is Decided

*On this date in 1923, Moore et al. v. Dempsey was decided.  This was a United States Supreme Court case in which the court ruled 6–2 that the defendants’ mob-dominated trials deprived them of due process guaranteed by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.  Moore v. Dempsey was the first case to come […]

Lawrence Rainey, Police Officer born.

*Lawrence Rainey was born on this date in 1923. He was a white-American police officer and white supremacist. Lawrence Andrew Rainey Sr. grew up in Neshoba and Kemper County, Mississippi. His parents were John and Bessie Rainey. Rainey had a younger brother who died at a young age. Rainey’s education stopped at the 8th grade. His […]

Wiley Branton, Lawyer, and Activist born

Wiley Branton was born on this date in 1923. He was an African American attorney and civil rights activist.

Born in Pine Bluff, AR, Wiley Austin Branton was educated in elementary, junior high, and high schools in Pine Bluff schools. An Army veteran of World War II, Branton spent time teaching Blacks how to mark an election ballot after the war, which resulted in his conviction of a misdemeanor for “teaching the mechanics of voting.” In 1950, he received a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Arkansas A.M.& N. College (now the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff).

Ada Lois Sipuel Fisher, Oklahoma Lawyer born

*On this date in 1924, Ada Lois Sipuel Fisher was born. She was an African American lawyer, administrator and activist.

Virginia’s Racial Integrity Act is Passed

*On this date in 1924, The Racial Integrity Act was passed in Virginia.   The state’s General Assembly passed two laws arising from white concerns about eugenics and race. This was influenced by the Virginia Sterilization Act of 1924 due to the number of cases reported by doctors where they found genetic traits in whites that are also found in African Americans […]

David Lee Sr., Businessman born

David Jonathon Lee Sr. was born on this date in 1924. He was an African American lawyer and entrepreneur.

From Lincoln, NE., He was the youngest son of Robert and Blanche Lee. He was orphaned at the age of ten due to the early death of his parents and raised by his Uncle George and Aunt Elnora Evans. Lee attended Whittier Junior high school and graduated from Lincoln Senior high school in 1942. During that time he excelled in many areas, most notably were mathematics and debate. Drafted into the army, he served in the European Theater and was discharged as a Master Sergeant.

Patricia Roberts Harris, Lawyer, and Diplomat born

*Patricia Roberts Harris was born on this date in 1924. She was an African American lawyer, ambassador, political activist, and educator.

Born in Mattoon, Illinois, Patricia Roberts was the daughter of Bert Fitzgerald Roberts, a Pullman car waiter, and Hildren Brodie Johnson, a schoolteacher. She attended schools in Chicago and graduated summa cum laude from Howard University in 1945. She did postgraduate work at the University of Chicago and at American University in 1949. Until 1953, she worked as Assistant Director of the American Council on Human Rights.

Barbara Preiskel, Lawyer, and Activist born

*Barbara Scott Preiskel was born on this date in 1924. She was an African American attorney, activist, and administrator.