People, Locations, Episodes

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.

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 […]

Theodore Berry, Attorney, and Politician born

Theodore M. Berry, an African American politician, was born on this date in 1905.

He was born in Maysville, a small town on the banks of the Ohio River, to a white father, a farmer he met only once, and a deaf mother who and communicated with him only in sign language. As a child, he sold newspapers, shined shoes, shoveled coal, delivered laundry, shelved books in local libraries, and worked as a desk clerk at the “Black” YMCA in Cincinnati, where he roomed during high school.

Robert E. Lillard, Lawyer, Politician, and Activist born

Robert Emmitt Lillard was born on this date in 1907. He was an African American lawyer, politician, and activist.

Born in Nashville to John W. and Virginia (Allen) Lillard, he was educated at Immaculate Mother’s Academy and in local public schools. He then attended Beggins Commercial College, although his ambition was to become a lawyer. In 1928, R. E. Lillard began work as a garage attendant and married Hallie C. Moore. They had three children: Gladys, Sandra, and Robert Walter. Lillard entered law school in 1932 at Nashville’s Kent College of Law.

Jane Bolin, Lawyer, and Judge born

On this date in 1908, Jane M. Bolin was born. She was an African American lawyer who became the first Black female judge in America.

Luther T. Glanton Jr., Judge born

*Luther T. Glanton was born on this date in 1910. He was a Black attorney, judge, and civil rights activist. Luther T. Glanton Jr. was born in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, the fourth of nine children of Luther T. Glanton Sr., a teacher and custodian at a local bank, and Katherine (Leigh) Glanton, a midwife and homemaker. […]

Clarence Mitchell Jr. , Lawyer, and Lobbyist born

*On this date in 1911, Clarence Mitchell was born. He was an African American lawyer and lobbyist.

From Baltimore, Mitchell attended Lincoln University in Pennsylvania receiving an A.B. degree in 1932. The following year he joined the Baltimore Afro-American newspaper as a reporter. Five years later he ran unsuccessfully for the Maryland House of Delegates on the socialist party ticket. In 1938, he was named executive secretary of the Minnesota branch of the National Urban League.

Lloyd Gaines, Law Student born.

*The birth of Lloyd Gaines is celebrated on this date in 1911. He was a Black law student and racial segregation plaintiff. Born in Water Valley, Mississippi, Lloyd Lionel Gaines moved with his mother and siblings to St. Louis, Missouri, in 1926 after the death of their father. Part of the Great Migration from rural communities in […]

The National Negro Bar Association is formed

*The National Negro Bar Association (NNBA) began on this date in 1912.   It was the first national bar association for African American lawyers in the United States. The NNBA was founded in Little Rock, Arkansas. At the time, the American Bar Association refused to accept black members, making the NNBA the only national bar association […]

Juanita Mitchell, Lawyer born

Juanita Jackson Mitchell was born on this date in 1913. She was an African American lawyer, administrator, and activist.