Law firms are increasingly diverse today, though the profession still has quite a way to go before the numbers truly reflect the nation at large. To wrap up Black History Month, we’ve compiled a list of five black attorneys who were truly the firsts of their time and paved the way for generations to come. Their fearless tenacity opened doors for many, and we pay tribute to them today and every day.
Civil rights advocate Constance Baker Motley was the first black woman to be appointed to a federal judgeship in 1966. Her achievements also include working alongside Thurgood Marshall at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, representing Martin Luther King Jr., serving in the New York State Senate, and serving as Manhattan Borough President in New York City. (Photo courtesy of Columbia Law School)
Thurgood Marshall made immeasurable strides for the civil rights movement during his lifetime. Working under his mentor and well-known civil rights icon Charles Hamilton Houston at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Marshall successfully argued Brown v. Board of Education which famously declared unconstitutional the “separate but equal” doctrine. In 1965, Marshall became the first black person appointed to the post of U.S. Solicitor General. Two years later, he became the first black person appointed to the United States Supreme Court, where he served until 1991.
Macon Bolling AllenMacon Bolling Allen is known to be the first black male attorney in the United States. He was admitted to practice in Maine in 1844, and later practiced in Massachusetts where he was appointed as a justice of the peace for Middlesex County. Allen moved to South Carolina in 1868, where he was also appointed to a judiciary post. It is believed that he is also the first black person to be appointed to a judiciary post in the U.S.
In 1872, Charlotte Ray became the first black female attorney in the United States. She was active in the NAACP and the suffragist movement. Fun fact: she applied to and was admitted to Howard University Law School under the name “C. E. Ray,” in a possible attempt to hide her gender.
Jane BolinJane Bolin was the first black woman to graduate from Yale Law School, and in 1939 she became the first black female judge in the country – she served as a judge in New York Family Court for more than forty years. She was also the first black woman to work as an attorney for the New York Law Department, and likewise, to join the New York City Bar Association.
These trailblazers truly changed the game, and we are forever grateful for their contributions to the legal profession and our entire legal justice system.