People, Locations, Episodes

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.

William Ming Jr., Lawyer born

*William Ming Jr., a black lawyer and law professor, was born on this date in 1911. William Robert Ming Jr. was born in Chicago to Annie and William Ming Sr., a South Side Chicago municipal employee. Young Ming Jr. worked as a grocery clerk and on wrecking crews while putting himself through the University of […]

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 […]

Stanley Levison, Lawyer born

*Stanley David Levison, a white Jewish-American businessman, lawyer, and lifelong activist for progressive causes, was born on this date in 1912 in New York City. He attended the University of Michigan, Columbia University, and the New School for Social Research. He received two law degrees from St. John’s University. While serving as treasurer of the American Jewish Congress in Manhattan, he […]

Juanita Mitchell, Lawyer born

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

William McClain, Judge born

*William McClain was born on this date in 1913. He was an African American lawyer and Judge.

From Springfield, Ohio, William Andrew McClain was son of Frank and Blanche McClain. He was a 1930 graduate of Springfield High School in he earned his A.B. degree at Wittenberg University in 1934 and his J.D. degree from the University of Michigan in 1937. McClain received L.L.D. degrees from Wilberforce University and the University of Cincinnati in 1963 and 1971, respectively.

Samuel Tucker, Attorney born

*Samuel Tucker was born on this date in 1913. He was a Black lawyer and a cooperating attorney with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Samuel Wilbert Tucker was born in Alexandria, Virginia. His father, Samuel A. Tucker, a real estate agent and NAACP member, and his teacher mother saw to […]

Anton Lembede, South African Lawyer and Activist born

*Anton Lembede was born on this date in 1914. He was a Black South African lawyer and activist. Anton Muziwakhe Lembede was born on the farm of Frank Fell near Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu Natal, South Africa. He was the eldest of seven children born to Mbazwana Martin and Martha Nora MaLuthuli Lembede. His father was a […]

Dovey Johnson Roundtree, Lawyer born

*Dovey Johnson Roundtree was born on this date in 1914.  She was a Black teacher, lawyer, military administrator, and minister. From Charlotte, NC, Dovey Mae Johnson was the second of four daughters of James Eliot Johnson, a printer, and Lela (Bryant) Johnson, a domestic.  Her father died in the influenza epidemic of 1919, and she, […]

Robert L. Carter, Attorney, and Activist born

*Robert Lee Carter was born on this date in 1917. He was an African American Attorney, United States District Judge and Civil Rights activist.

From Caryville, Florida, while still very young, his mother moved north to Newark, New Jersey, where he was raised. Carter graduated from high school at sixteen and earned his undergraduate degree in political science from Lincoln University (Pennsylvania) and his law degree from Howard University School of Law in 1940, both on scholarship. He also was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.

William H. Murphy Sr., Lawyer, and Judge born.

*William H. Murphy, Sr. was born on this date in 1917. He was a Black lawyer, judge, and community activist. He was born into the Baltimore Black elite. His life was spent upholding the rights of the underprivileged. His concern for others came from his parents, who were both politically and socially active. His paternal […]

Bruce Wright, Judge, and Writer born

This date marks the birth of Bruce M. Wright in 1917. He was an African American judge, lawyer, and poet.

He was born in Princeton, N.J., and raised in Harlem, New York. Bruce McMarion Wright’s father was Black and his mother was white. He was awarded a scholarship to attend Princeton in 1939, but denied admission when the university learned that he was Black. Wright was denied admission to Notre Dame on the same grounds.

Donald Hollowell, Lawyer born.

*The birth of Donald Hollowell on this date in 1917 is marked. He was an African American attorney who specialized in Civil Rights.