List of first minority male lawyers and judges in North Carolina

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This is a list of the first minority male lawyer(s) and judge(s) in North Carolina. It includes the year in which the men were admitted to practice law (in parentheses). Also included are other distinctions such as the first minority men in their state to obtain a law degree or become a political figure.

Firsts in state history[]

Mickey Michaux: First African American male to become a U.S. Attorney in North Carolina (1977)

Lawyers[]

Judicial Officers[]

State[]

Judges[]
  • Lacy Maynor:[3][4] First Native American (Lumbee) male judge in North Carolina (c. 1950s)[5]
  • Sammie Chess Jr.:[6][7] First African American male judge in North Carolina (1971)
  • Clifton Johnson:[8] First African American male to serve as a Resident Superior Court Judge in North Carolina (1977)
  • Cy A. Grant Sr.:[9] First African American male to serve as a Senior Resident Superior Court Judge in North Carolina (1988)
  • Sandy Dexter Brooks (1976):[10][11] First Native American (Lumbee) male to serve as a superior court judge in North Carolina (1989)
  • Ray Warren:[12][13] First openly LGBT male judge in North Carolina (c. 1998)
  • Brad Letts:[14] First Native American (Cherokee) male judge in North Carolina (2000)
  • Albert Diaz (1988):[15][16] First Hispanic American male judge in North Carolina (2001)
  • Lou Olivera:[17] First Latino American male elected as a judge in North Carolina (2012)
  • John S. Arrowood:[18][19] First openly LGBT male judge elected in North Carolina (2017)
District Court[]
  • Clifton Johnson:[8] First African American male to serve as a Chief District Court Judge in North Carolina (1974)
Court of Appeals[]
Supreme Court[]

Federal[]

District Court[]
  • Richard Erwin:[22] First African American male to serve as a federal district court judge in North Carolina (1980)[23]
Appellate Court[]
  • Albert Diaz (1988):[15][16] First Hispanic American male appointed as a Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (2010)

Assistant Attorney General[]

  • Walter E. Ricks III:[24] First African American male to serve as the Assistant Attorney General of North Carolina (1973)

United States Attorney[]

Assistant United States Attorneys[]

  • Henry Frye:[20][21] First African American male to serve as an Assistant United States Attorney in North Carolina (1963)
  • Zeppelin Wong:[27][28] First Asian American male to serve as an Assistant United States Attorney in North Carolina (1963)

District Attorney[]

  • Carl Fox:[29] First African American male to serve as a District Attorney in North Carolina (1984)

Assistant District Attorney[]

  • Walter Johnson, Jr.:[30] First African American male to serve as an Assistant District Attorney in North Carolina (c. 1960s)

Bar Association[]

  • Cressie H. Thigpen, Jr.:[31] First African American male to serve as the President of the North Carolina State Bar Association (2005)

Firsts in local history[]

Alphabetized by county name

Alamance County[]

Buncombe County[]

Cabarrus County[]

Chatham County[]

Cumberland County[]

Davidson County[]

Durham County[]

Forsyth County[]

Franklin County[]

  • Randolph Baskerville:[44] First African American to serve as an Assistant District Attorney for the 9th Judicial Circuit in North Carolina [Franklin, Granville and Vance Counties, North Carolina]

Granville County[]

  • Randolph Baskerville:[44] First African American to serve as an Assistant District Attorney for the 9th Judicial Circuit in North Carolina [Franklin, Granville and Vance Counties, North Carolina]

Guilford County[]

Mecklenburg County[]

Orange County[]

Pitt County[]

Randolph County[]

Vance County[]

Wake County[]

Wayne County[]

See also[]

Other topics of interest[]

References[]

  1. ^ Smith, Jr., J. Clay (1999-01-01). Emancipation: The Making of the Black Lawyer, 1844-1944. University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 0812216857.
  2. ^ "FIRST INDIAN LAWYER". The Robesonian. August 28, 1972. Retrieved 2020-03-08.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  3. ^ "The 1950s: Long Live the Lumbee". Our State Magazine. 2019-07-29. Retrieved 2020-03-10.
  4. ^ Richardson, Marvin M. (2016). "RACIAL CHOICES: THE EMERGENCE OF THE HALIWA-SAPONI INDIAN TRIBE, 1835-1971". University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  5. ^ Upon Maynor becoming a Judge of the Maxton Recorder's Court during the 1950s
  6. ^ Smith, Jessie Carney (2012-12-01). Black Firsts: 4,000 Ground-Breaking and Pioneering Historical Events. Visible Ink Press. ISBN 9781578594252.
  7. ^ Writer, Bob Burchette Staff. "Former judge honored with portrait". Greensboro News & Record. Retrieved 2018-01-11.
  8. ^ a b c d "JUDGE CLIFTON JOHNSON". www.meckbar.org. Retrieved 2020-02-19.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  9. ^ "The Prezell R. Robinson Library Unveils "First African Americans on the North Carolina Bench" Exhibit". Saint Augustine's University. 2019-10-22. Retrieved 2020-02-19.
  10. ^ "Remembering senior resident Superior Court judge Sandy Dexter Brooks. | The Lumbee Indians". lumbee.library.appstate.edu. Retrieved 2018-01-23.
  11. ^ Bennett, Walter (2010-02-15). The Lawyer's Myth: Reviving Ideals in the Legal Profession. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 9780226042565.
  12. ^ "A JUDGE'S GRIM GAMBLE: RAY WARREN OUTS HIMSELF\ SO JUDGE WARREN IS GAY. LIFE GOES ON. HIS CAREER SHOULD, TOO". Greensboro News and Record. Retrieved 2022-02-16.
  13. ^ "The Charlotte Judge Who Made History When He Came Out". Charlotte Magazine. 2018-10-23. Retrieved 2022-02-16.
  14. ^ Ellison, Quintin (August 8, 2000). "District court judge makes state history". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2020-06-13.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  15. ^ a b "Barack Obama: Press Release - President Obama Nominates Judge Albert Diaz and Judge James Wynn to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals". www.presidency.ucsb.edu. Retrieved 2018-01-29.
  16. ^ a b "U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Albert Diaz to deliver Elon Law Commencement address". E-Net! Elon University News & Information. Retrieved 2018-01-29.
  17. ^ "N.C. judge spends night in cell with troubled defendant, a veteran with PTSD". Fox News. 2016-12-01. Retrieved 2020-02-19.
  18. ^ "Openly gay judge makes history with North Carolina victory". WNCT. 2018-11-10. Retrieved 2022-02-17.
  19. ^ a b Cresenzo, Bill (2019-02-07). "Equality and justice for all: Judge John Arrowood is a North Carolina trailblazer | North Carolina Lawyers Weekly". Retrieved 2022-02-15.
  20. ^ a b Justice At the Top: Nine Distinguished Jurists Serve on State and D.C. Highest Courts. Ebony. April 1983.
  21. ^ a b CHRISTIAN, PAULA (August 7, 1999). "HENRY FRYE: BREAKING RACIAL BARRIERS\ CHIEF JUSTICE IS JUST FRYE'S LATEST FIRST". Greensboro News and Record. Retrieved 2020-03-11.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  22. ^ Wake Forest University School of Law (Winston-Salem, N. C. ) (1986). Wake Forest University Jurist [Spring 1986]. Wake Forest University.
  23. ^ Upon Erwin becoming a Judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina in 1980
  24. ^ People: Walter E. Ricks III. Jet. April 5, 1973.
  25. ^ Smothers, Ronald (1992-05-03). "THE 1992 CAMPAIGN: Congressional Races; 2 Strangely Shaped Hybrid Creatures Highlight North Carolina's Primary". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-12-18.
  26. ^ Upon being appointed to head the office in the Middle District of North Carolina, he was considered the First African American male to become a U.S. Attorney in the South since Reconstruction.
  27. ^ Free China Review. W.Y. Tsao. 1963.
  28. ^ China (Taiwan), Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of (1963-11-01). "Overseas Chinese". Taiwan Today. Retrieved 2020-02-14.
  29. ^ a b c "Judge Carl Fox Inspires with Black History Month Presentation at Womble Carlyle | Womble Bond Dickinson". www.womblebonddickinson.com. Retrieved 2020-03-12.
  30. ^ "The Pioneers: David Robinson II '64 and Walter Johnson Jr. '64 recall integrating Duke". Duke University School of Law. Retrieved 2020-03-12.
  31. ^ "ATTORNEY CRESSIE H. THIGPEN, JR. IS ELECTED AS NEW CHAIRMAN OF NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL UNIVERSITY'S BOARD OF TRUSTEES". www.nccu.edu. Retrieved 2019-01-05.
  32. ^ "Civil Rights Movement" (PDF).
  33. ^ Services, ITS Web. "NCCU Alumnus Sworn in as Alamance County Judge". www.nccu.edu. Retrieved 2018-02-13.
  34. ^ Groves, Isaac. "New District Court Judge Brown is a first for Alamance". The Times. Retrieved 2018-02-13.
  35. ^ "North Carolina Central University Law School Alumni Hold Luncheon". The Urban News. 2012-05-11. Retrieved 2018-12-19.
  36. ^ Instauration. Howard Allen Enterprises, Incorporated. 1982.
  37. ^ Parker, Jason R. (Winter 2019). "Father-Daughter REFLECTIONS" (PDF). Of Counsel Magazine.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
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  39. ^ a b c d "OBITUARIES". Greensboro News and Record. Retrieved 2020-03-13.
  40. ^ "Summary of John Merrick. A Biographical Sketch". docsouth.unc.edu. Retrieved 2018-02-13.
  41. ^ "Documenting the American South: Oral Histories of the American South". docsouth.unc.edu. Retrieved 2018-02-13.
  42. ^ a b "And Justice for All | » Albert L. Turner, First African-American Dean, North Carolina Central University Law School". Retrieved 2022-03-16.
  43. ^ "And Justice for All | » Lowell Siler, Durham County Attorney, 2009-Present". Retrieved 2020-03-12.
  44. ^ a b c "Randolph Baskerville". Baskerville & Baskerville, PLLC. Retrieved 2020-02-19.
  45. ^ "Guide to the Falkener Family Papers, 1893-2001". David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library. Retrieved 2018-02-14.
  46. ^ Glenn, Sarah Delia, Gwendolyn. "Spencer Merriweather Wins Race For Mecklenburg District Attorney". www.wfae.org. Retrieved 2020-03-12.
  47. ^ "Pitt County's first Hispanic judge sworn in - Daily Reflector". www.reflector.com. Retrieved 2019-01-09.
  48. ^ Vann, Andre (2000). Vance County, North Carolina. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 9780738506630.
  49. ^ "Judge George Greene". NC Heritage. Retrieved 2019-01-15.
  50. ^ "Black History Month". City of Goldsboro. Retrieved 2018-02-13.
  51. ^ Smith, Jr., J. Clay (1999-01-01). Emancipation: The Making of the Black Lawyer, 1844-1944. University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 0812216857.
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