George Howard, Jr. was the first black justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court and the first black federal judge in Arkansas. As a lawyer, he litigated cases that resulted in the desegregation of Arkansas public schools. As a federal judge, he presided over the politically-charged Whitewater cases that involved Bill and Hillary … Read MoreGeorge Howard Jr. (1924-2007)
Robert Benham is the first African American justice to serve on the Supreme Court of Georgia. Benham was born September 25, 1946, in Cartersville, Georgia, to Jesse Knox and Clarence Benham. He is the great-grandchild of enslaved people. After graduation from Summer Hill High School in 1963, Benham … Read MoreRobert Benham (1946- )
Louis Sturns was the first African American to serve on the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the state’s highest criminal court. Sturns was born to Robert L. Sterns and Emma Sturns on August 6, 1949 in Henderson, Texas, located in Rusk County. He was raised in Rusk County … Read MoreLouis E. Sturns (1949- )
George Henry Brown, Jr., the first African American appointed to serve on the Tennessee Supreme Court, was born on July 16, 1939 and grew up in in Memphis, Tennessee. Brown’s father Alfred was a car cleaner for the Illinois Central Railroad, and his mother Sara was a teacher for the … Read MoreGeorge Henry Brown, Jr. (1939- )
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- )
Born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma on December 30, 1949, Tom Colbert was the first African American Chief Justice of the Oklahoma Supreme Court. Raised by his single mother, Edith Colbert, with four other siblings, he grew up in Sapulpa, Oklahoma, a small town near Oklahoma City, and graduated from … Read MoreTom Colbert (1949- )
David Lewis is the first African American to serve on the Criminal Court of Appeals in Oklahoma. Born to Sylvia Lewis on April 30, 1958, in Ardmore, Oklahoma, he graduated from Ardmore High School in 1976. He got a bachelor’s degree in business economics at the University of Oklahoma in … Read MoreDavid B. Lewis (1956- )
Harry Cole, the first black justice on the Maryland Supreme Court, was born on January 1, 1921, in Washington, D.C., to a tailor and his wife. Shortly after his birth, Cole’s father died, and his mother moved him and his four siblings to her hometown, Baltimore, Maryland. Cole attended Douglass High School, … Read MoreHarry A. Cole (1921-1999)
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 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)
