Novelle Key, Author at • Page 2 of 2

Independent Historian

Novelle Key is an undergraduate at the University of Washington’s Seattle campus and will be graduating with the class of 2018. She is majoring in political science and minoring in diversity. After graduation Novelle intends to pursue a graduate degree. She is from Tacoma, Washington, where she attended Tacoma Community College through the Running Start program prior to attending UW. Novelle became a contributing writer for Black Past while taking Professor Quintard Taylor’s history class on African Americans in the American West.

Louis B. Butler, Jr. (1952- )

Louis Bennett Butler, Jr. became the first black justice on the Wisconsin Supreme Court in 2004 and served on the court until 2008. Butler also became Wisconsin’s first Public Defender to ever argue before the United States Supreme Court in 1988 during the trial of McCoy v. Wisconsin Court of … Read MoreLouis B. Butler, Jr. (1952- )

Ronnie L. White (1953- )

Ronnie Lee White became the first black justice to serve on the Missouri Supreme Court in 1995 and served until 2007. He was the court’s Chief Justice from 2003 to 2005. In addition to serving as a judge, White has been a public defender, an attorney, a city council memberin St. … Read MoreRonnie L. White (1953- )

William E. McAnulty, Jr. (1947-2007)

William Eugene McAnulty, Jr. was the first black justice to serve on the Kentucky Supreme Court and the first black person to ever hold a cabinet level position in Kentucky state government. Justice McAnulty was appointed to the state Supreme Court in June 2006 by Kentucky … Read MoreWilliam E. McAnulty, Jr. (1947-2007)

Otis M. Smith (1922-1994)

Otis Milton Smith became the first black justice on the Michigan Supreme Court in 1961, and served on the court until 1966. Smith was also the first black corporate officer of the General Motors Corporation, where he worked as general counsel, vice president, and leading attorney between 1966 and 1984. Smith … Read MoreOtis M. Smith (1922-1994)

Daniel James III (1945-2017)

Lieutenant General Daniel James III became the first African American to be named Director of the Air National Guard upon assuming the position in 2002. He was the son of Daniel James Jr., the first black four-star general in the U.S. Air Force. In 2006 James … Read MoreDaniel James III (1945-2017)

Charles O. Sampson (1957- )

In 1982 Charles Sampson became the first black man to win a Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) world championship, which he won for bull riding. In 1996 he was inducted into the Professional Rodeo Hall of Fame and in 2008 was inducted into the National Cowboy Hall … Read MoreCharles O. Sampson (1957- )