List of first minority male lawyers and judges in South Carolina
This is a list of the first minority male lawyer(s) and judge(s) in South Carolina. It includes the year in which the men were admitted to practice law (in parentheses). Also included are men who achieved other distinctions such becoming the first in their state to graduate from law school or become a political figure.
Firsts in South Carolina's history[edit]
Lawyers[edit]
- First African American male: Jonathan Jasper Wright (1867)[1][2]
- First African American male to practice before the South Carolina Supreme Court: Arthur Chester Platt (1922)[3][4][5]
State judges[edit]
- First African American male (judicial officer): Samuel B. Thompson around 1868[6]
- First African American male (South Carolina Supreme Court): Jonathan Jasper Wright (1867) in 1870[1][2]
- First African American male (judge): Richard E. Fields (1948)[7][8]
- First African American male (probate court): Bernard R. Fielding Sr. in 1976[9]
- First African American male elected (probate court): Harry C. Brown (1987) in 1987[10][11]
- First African American male (South Carolina Supreme Court; since Reconstruction): Ernest A. Finney Jr. (1954) in 1985[12][13]
- First African American male (Chief Justice; South Carolina Supreme Court): Ernest A. Finney Jr. (1954) in 1994[12][13]
- First Native American male (Chief Judge; South Carolina Court of Appeals): James Lockemy in 2016[14]
Federal judges[edit]
- First African American male (U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina): Matthew J. Perry (1959) in 1979[15][16]
South Carolina Bar Association[edit]
- First African American male president: I. S. Leevy Johnson (1968) in 1985[17]
Firsts in local history[edit]
- Burnele Venable Powell:[18] First Black male to serve as the Dean of the University of South Carolina School of Law (2003) [Lexington and Richland Counties, South Carolina]
- Al Bradley:[19] First African American male magistrate in Aiken County, South Carolina
- Bernard R. Fielding Sr.:[9] First African American male probate judge in Charleston County, South Carolina (1990)
- Reuben Brewington Clark:[20] First African American male magistrate in Clarendon County, South Carolina (1977)
- Donald J. Sampson:[21][22] First African American male lawyer in Greenville County, South Carolina
- Harry C. Brown (1987):[10][11] First African American male elected as a probate judge in Jasper County, South Carolina (1987)
- Luther Battiste III:[23] First Black male to serve as President of the Richland County Bar Association
- J.W. Johnes:[24] First African American male to serve as a Justice of the Peace in Spartanburg, Spartanburg County, South Carolina
- Matthew J. Perry (1959):[15][16] First African American male lawyer in Spartanburg, Spartanburg County, South Carolina
- Albert Smith:[25] First Black male to serve as President of Spartanburg County Bar Association
- Alex Chatman:[26] First African American male magistrate in Greeleyville, Williamsburg County, South Carolina
See also[edit]
Other topics of interest[edit]
- List of first women lawyers and judges in the United States
- List of first women lawyers and judges in South Carolina
References[edit]
- ^ a b Fordham, Damon L. (2009-02-01). Voices of Black South Carolina: Legend & Legacy. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 9781625842992.
- ^ a b "Wright, Jonathan J. (1840-1885) | The Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed". www.blackpast.org. Retrieved 2018-01-11.
- ^ Burke, William Lewis (2017). All for Civil Rights: African American Lawyers in South Carolina, 1868-1968. University of Georgia Press. ISBN 978-0-8203-5098-1.
- ^ Burke, W. Lewis Jr.; Gergel, Belinda F. (2021-02-22). Matthew J. Perry: The Man, His Times, and His Legacy. University of South Carolina Press. ISBN 978-1-64336-209-0.
- ^ State, DAWN HINSHAW The. "District judge, former Spartanburg attorney Matthew Perry dies". Spartanburg Herald Journal. Retrieved 2022-05-16.
- ^ Smith, J. Clay Jr. (1999). Emancipation: The Making of the Black Lawyer, 1844-1944. University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 978-0-8122-1685-1.
- ^ "Congressional Record". www.congress.gov. Retrieved 2018-01-11.
- ^ Burke, William Lewis; Gergel, Belinda (2004). Matthew J. Perry: The Man, His Times, and His Legacy. Univ of South Carolina Press. ISBN 9781570035340.
- ^ a b "S.C.'s First Black Probate Judge Notes That Black History's Discrimination Continues Into Modern Times". The Charleston Chronicle. Archived from the original on January 15, 2019. Retrieved 2019-01-14.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ a b First Black Probate Judge Elected in S. California. Johnson Publishing Company. 1987-02-16.
- ^ a b Guthrie, Anna Lorraine; Tannehill, Bertha; Shimer, Neltje Marie Tannehill (1988). Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature. H. W. Wilson Company.
- ^ a b Shain, Andy (December 4, 2017). "Former S.C. Supreme Court Chief Justice Ernest Finney Jr. passes away". Post and Courier. Retrieved 2018-01-29.
- ^ a b "Black History Month Spotlight Series: Chief Justice Finney". South Carolina Bar. Retrieved 2023-11-07.
- ^ "UNCP Trustee James Lockemy honored at U.S. Supreme Court". The University of North Carolina at Pembroke. Retrieved 2023-11-02.
- ^ a b S.C. Courthouse is Named for 1st Black Federal Judge in South; Not Late Sen. Strom Thurmond. Johnson Publishing Company. 2004-05-24.
{{cite book}}:|work=ignored (help) - ^ a b "S.C. Legal and Civil Rights Icon Passes Away". Lexington, SC Patch. 2011-08-01. Retrieved 2018-02-14.
- ^ "Johnson, Isaac Samuel Leevy". South Carolina Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2019-01-04.
- ^ "USC hires first African-America law school dean". WIS News 10. Retrieved 2022-03-15.
- ^ Thomas, Keith L. (May 19, 1991). "In the beginning, there was James..." infoweb.newsbank.com. Retrieved 2024-04-12.
- ^ Bolton, Warren (February 23, 2001). "A great man has fallen..." infoweb.newsbank.com. Retrieved 2024-04-12.
- ^ "Donald James Sampson's Obituary on The Greenville News". The Greenville News. Retrieved 2018-02-13.
- ^ "Group to honor four Upstate women for their accomplishments". The Greenville News. Greenville, South Carolina. February 26, 1990. p. 9. Retrieved 2018-02-13 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Luther Battiste III - University History | University of South Carolina". sc.edu. Retrieved 2021-08-04.
- ^ Montgomery, Bob. "Wofford students tidy up Spartanburg's African-American cemetery". GoUpstate. Retrieved 2020-03-13.
- ^ Wyatt, Dustin. "Albert Smith, first Black president of Spartanburg Bar Association, celebrated for talents, helping others". Spartanburg Herald Journal. Retrieved 2021-08-04.
- ^ "Alex Chatman". infoweb.newsbank.com. November 30, 2015. Retrieved 2024-04-13.