With his appointment in 1955 as the first African American to serve on the New York State Supreme Court, Harold Arnoldus Stevens continued a string of firsts that began in 1950 when he was elected to the New York Court of General Sessions, becoming the first African … Read MoreHarold A. Stevens (1907-1990)
Morris Overstreet was the first African American in Texas state history to be elected to a statewide office and the second (after Judge Louis Sturns) to sit on one of the two highest courts in the state, the Texas Criminal Court of Appeals. Overstreet was born on … Read MoreMorris Overstreet (1950-2024)
Mississippi attorney and jurist Reuben V. Anderson had a series of “firsts” in his career. On January 16, 1985, he was sworn as the first African American Supreme Court Justice in the state of Mississippi, a position he held until his retirement from the bench in 1991. Anderson … Read MoreReuben V. Anderson (1943- )
Born Dovey Mae Johnson on April 17, 1914, in Charlotte, North Carolina, Dovey Johnson Roundtree was an African American civil rights activist, attorney, and ordained minister who won the 1955 Interstate Commerce Commission case on segregated bus terminals. She was the second oldest of four children born to James Elliot Johnson, a printer … Read MoreDovey Johnson Roundtree (1914–2018)
Champion rower Anita Lucette DeFrantz was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on October 4, 1952. As a child growing up in Indianapolis, Indiana, she began her athletic career as a member of her local swim team. She attended Connecticut College, and at almost 6 feet tall, she tried out for the women’s basketball team … Read MoreAnita L. DeFrantz (1952- )
Legal scholar and author James Forman Jr. (a.k.a. James Robert Lumumba Forman) was born in New York City, New York on June 22, 1967. His mother, political activist Constancia Romilly, was the daughter of English author and journalist Jessica Mitford; his father, James Forman, Sr., played a prominent role … Read MoreJames Forman Jr. (1967- )
Judge George Neves Leighton and his twin sister, Georgina, were born in New Bedford, Massachusetts on October 22, 1912, to Cape Verdean immigrants Antonio Neves Leitao and Anna Silva Garcia Leitao. His last name was changed,with his parents permission, to Leighton by an elementary school teacher who could not … Read MoreGeorge Neves Leighton (1912-2018)
Justice Michael Douglas is the first African American Justice of the Nevada Supreme Court. He was first appointed in 2004 and has twice served as Chief Justice of the court. Justice Douglas was born in Los Angeles, California and graduated from California State Long Beach in 1971 and Hastings Law School in 1974. … Read MoreMichael L. Douglas (1948- )
Judith Ann Wilson Rogers, law clerk, attorney, judge, and corporation counsel, was born on July 27, 1939 in New York City, New York. Her mother is unnamed, but her father was John Louis Wilson, Jr., an architect who passed away in 1989. Judith W. Rogers married in 1968. … Read MoreJudith Ann Wilson Rogers (1939- )
Roderick L. Ireland was appointed to serve as Associate Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts in 1997, becoming the court’s first justice of African American descent. In December 2010, Justice Ireland was appointed to serve as Chief Justice of the court. Justice Ireland retired from the court … Read MoreRoderick L. Ireland (1944- )
