People, Locations, Episodes

Hugo L. Black, Judge, and Politician born

*Hugo Black was born on this date in 1886.  He was a white-American lawyer, politician, and judge.   Hugo LaFayette Black was the youngest of the eight children of William Lafayette Black and Martha (Toland) Black. He was born in a small wooden farmhouse in Ashland, Alabama, a poor, rural Clay County town in Appalachia. Black descended from Hugh and Mary […]

Wendell Green, Lawyer and Judge born

*Wendell Green was born on this date in 1887. He was a Black Lawyer and Judge. Wendell Elbert Green was born in Topeka, Kansas; his father was a native of Bermuda. Green graduated from the University of Kansas in 1908 with a degree in chemistry. In 1910, he worked as a druggist in a St. […]

The Dawes Act is Passed

*On this date, in 1887, The Dawes Act was passed.   Named after white-American Senator Henry L. Dawes of Massachusetts, it is also known as the General Allotment Act or the Dawes Severalty Act.   The intersectionality between African Americans and Native Americans was affected by this legal episode. It authorized the President of the United States to subdivide Native American tribal landholdings into allotments for Native American heads […]

Nathan McGill, Chicago Lawyer born

Nathan McGill born on this date in 1888. He was an African American lawyer and businessman.

Born in Quincy, FL., Nathan Kellogg McGill was the son of Nathan and Agnes (Zeigler) McGill. He graduated from Cookman Institute in 1909, Boston University in 1912, and received his L.L.B. from Boston University in 1912. McGill began practicing law in 1912 and started his own law practice Jacksonville in 1913. McGill was publisher of the Florida Sentinel in Jacksonville from 1916 to 1920.

Lafayette Tillman, 19th-century Policeman born

Lafayette A. Tillman’s birth in 1869 is celebrated on this date. He was an African American Barber and Policeman.

Lafayette Alonzo Tillman was born in Evansville, Indiana. After graduating from public schools, he entered Oberlin College and continued his studies as the Wayland Seminary in Washington, D.C. A proficient bass singer, Tillman traveled extensively with the New Orleans University singers and later with the Don Tennesseans, a group that performed in the White House. He performed in Kansas City in 1880 where he opened a restaurant in 1881.

John Morton-Finney, Lawyer, and Educator born

*John Morton-Finney was born on this date in 1889. He was a Black civil rights activist, lawyer, and educator. Morton Finney was born in Uniontown, Kentucky, to George and Maryatta “Mattie” (Gordon) Finney, a former slave father and a free mother. He was one of the family’s seven children. When his mother died in 1903, […]

Court Rules to Desegregate Education in California

On this date in 1890, public schools allowed Blacks to enroll in Visalia, California.

On that date, the California Supreme Court, in Wysinger v. Crookshank, reversed a lower court decision and ordered that 12-year-old Arthur Wysinger be admitted to Visalia’s regular school system.

Charles Howard Sr., Soldier, and Attorney born

*The birth of Charles P. Howard Sr. in 1890 is celebrated on this date. He was an African American soldier, attorney, and columnist.

He was born in Des Moines and graduated from the Fort Des Moines officer-candidate school in 1917. One year later he was a second lieutenant and serving with the 92nd Division, 366th Infantry in France during World War I. After the military, Howard received his law degree from Drake University in 1920. He was a gifted lawyer who never lost a capital trial.

Howard Drew, Athlete and Lawyer born

Howard Drew was born on this date in 1890. He was an African American track and field athlete, and lawyer and judge.

He was born in Lexington, KY, the son of David Drew, a Baptist minister. Around the age of ten, he and his family moved and settled in Springfield, MA. Drew won his first track meet with home-made shorts, and non-spike shoes. From there he made his first pair of track shoes by driving six nails through his regular shoes and using leather pieces to protect his feet.

Earl Dickerson, Chicago Civic Leader born

On this date in 1891, Earl B. Dickerson was born. He was an African American attorney, teacher, and businessman.

Plessy v. Ferguson Begins

*On this date in 1892, a 30-year-old African American shoemaker named Homer Plessy was jailed for sitting in the “White” car of the East Louisiana Railroad.

Inez C. Fields, Lawyer, and Activist born

*Inez C. Fields was born on this date in 1895. She was a Black lawyer and activist. Inez Catherine Fields was from Hampton, Virginia, the daughter of George Washington Fields, an attorney, and Sarah “Sallie” Haws Baker Fields. Her uncle, James Apostle Fields, a Newport News attorney, served one term in the House of Delegates. Fields […]

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.