List of first minority male lawyers and judges in Alabama

This is a list of the first minority male lawyer(s) and judge(s) in Alabama. 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

Lawyer
  • Moses W. Moore:[1] First African American male lawyer in Alabama (1871)[2]

State judges
  • Roderick B. Thomas:[3][4] First African American judge in Alabama (1874)
  • Cain James Kennedy (1971):[5] First African-American male appointed as a circuit judge in Alabama (1979)
  • William McKinley Branch:[6][7][8] First African American male elected as a probate judge in Alabama (1970)
  • Oscar Adams (1947):[9][10] First African-American to serve as a Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court (1980)
  • Eddie Hardaway, Jr. (1978):[11] First African American male to serve as a Judge of the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit in Alabama (1995)

Federal judges

Assistant Attorney General
  • Myron Herbert Thompson:[17][18] First African American male to serve as the Assistant Attorney General of Alabama (1972)

United States Attorney

Assistant United States Attorney

District Attorney
  • Barrown Lankster:[21][22][23] First African American male elected to serve as a District Attorney in Alabama (1992)[24]

Bar Association
  • Fred Gray, Sr.:[25] First African American male to serve as the President of the Alabama State Bar Association (2002)

Firsts in local history

Alphabetized by county name

Bibb County

Bullock County
  • Rufus C. Huffman, Sr.:[28] First African American male probate judge in Bullock County, Alabama (1976)

Dallas County

Greene County
  • William McKinley Branch:[6][7][8] First African American male elected as a probate judge in Greene County, Alabama (1970)
  • Eddie Hardaway, Jr. (1978):[11] First African American male to serve as a Judge of the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit in Alabama (1995)

Hale County

Jefferson County

Lowndes County
  • John Hulett:[36] First African American male to serve as a probate judge in Lowndes County, Alabama

Macon County
  • Alfonza Menefee:[37] First African American male probate judge in Macon County, Alabama (1988)
  • Charles Swinger Conley:[38][39] First African American male judge of the Court of Common Pleas (1972)

Marengo County
  • Eddie Hardaway, Jr. (1978):[11] First African American male to serve as a Judge of the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit in Alabama (1995)

Mobile County

Montgomery County

Perry County

Shelby County

Sumter County
  • Eddie Hardaway, Jr. (1978):[11] First African American male to serve as a Judge of the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit in Alabama (1995)

Walker County

Wilcox County

See also

Other topics of interest

References
  1. "Moses Wenslydale Moore". ala-lawyers.org. Retrieved 2020-03-08.
  2. Upon Moore being admitted to practice law before the Alabama Supreme Court in 1871
  3. "Judge Roderick B. Thomas". Alabama Lawyers Association. Retrieved 2018-01-10.
  4. Fitts, Alston (2016). Selma: A Bicentennial History. University of Alabama Press. ISBN 9780817319328.
  5. Smith, Jessie Carney (2013). Black Firsts: 4,000 Ground-Breaking and Pioneering Historical Events. Visible Ink Press. ISBN 9781578594252.
  6. Morton, Jason. "Civil rights figure, first black probate judge William McKinley Branch dies in Alabama at 95". Tuscaloosa News. Retrieved 2019-01-14.
  7. Gains at the Polls: Government and Politics. Johnson Publishing Company. January 1971.
  8. "Branch, William McKinley, 1918-". crdl.usg.edu. Retrieved 2019-01-14.
  9. J. Mark White & Kitty Rogers Brown, Oscar William Adams Jr., Encyclopedia of Alabama (December 6, 2017).
  10. Johnson, Jr., Raymond L. (May 1993). "Black Pioneer Lawyers in Alabama—Living Legends". Alabama Lawyer.
  11. Watkins, Ed (January 12, 1995). "Circuit judge sworn in". news.google.com. Retrieved 2019-01-14.
  12. "African American History Month - 2017". gaprobate.gov. 2017-01-30. Retrieved 2019-01-14.
  13. Law and Justice: Poetic Justice. Johnson Publishing Company. 1980-01-24.
  14. Daniels, Maurice C. (2001). Horace T. Ward: Desegration of the University of Georgia, Civil Rights Advocacy, and Jurisprudence. Clark Atlanta University Press. ISBN 9780966855531.
  15. Kent Faulk (July 5, 2013). "Alabama's first black federal judge, U.W. Clemon, being honored by group that had opposed his nomination". AL.com.
  16. "On this day in Alabama history: U.W. Clemon appointed to U.S. District Court". Alabama NewsCenter. 2019-01-10. Retrieved 2019-01-14.
  17. Lewis; Portl, Clark 0615 S. W. Palatine Hill Road; USA 503-768-7000, Oregon 97219. "Alabama's First Black Judge Speaks in Portland Synagogue for MLK Celebration". www.lclark.edu. Retrieved 2019-06-22.
  18. Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates of the ... Congress. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1980.
  19. Patterson, Nick (2018-04-05). "In Mobile, New U.S. Attorney Emphasizes Listening Locally, Keeping What Works, Respect". BirminghamWatch. Retrieved 2020-03-10.
  20. "ALABAMA LAWYERS ASSOCIATION CELEBRATES THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF THE HONORABLE J. RICHMOND PEARSON". ala-lawyers.org. Retrieved 2020-03-11.
  21. "Jackson not first black DA". The Selma Times‑Journal. 2005-01-21. Retrieved 2020-03-10.
  22. Writer, Gilbert Cruz Staff. "District Attorney Greg Griggers fends off challenge". Tuscaloosa News. Retrieved 2020-03-10.
  23. McGuire, Danielle L.; Dittmer, John (2011-11-01). Freedom Rights: New Perspectives on the Civil Rights Movement. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 978-0-8131-3448-2.
  24. Lankster was elected to serve as a District Attorney in the Alabama Black Belt in 1992, which consists of 18 counties.
  25. "First black president of Alabama State Bar". African American Registry. Retrieved 2019-01-03.
  26. "2018 Michael W. Jackson '85". alumni.centre.edu. Retrieved 2020-03-10.
  27. Jackson was the second African American male elected as a District Attorney in Alabama's history.
  28. "Timeline of the life of Rufus C. Huffman, Sr". Union Springs Herald. Retrieved 2019-01-14.
  29. "Remembering Attorney, Civil Rights Champion, and Original EJI Board Member J.L. Chestnut Jr". Equal Justice Initiative. Retrieved 2017-09-23.
  30. "As the first black lawyer in Selma, Ala., J.L. Chestnut..." tribunedigital-chicagotribune. Retrieved 2017-09-23.
  31. "Dallas Co. Probate Judge Set to Pass Torch and Retire". Alabama News. 2018-12-07. Retrieved 2019-01-14.
  32. "From humble past to public servant, Nunn ready for new office". The Montgomery Advertiser. Retrieved 2019-01-14.
  33. "Theo Lawson appointed Jefferson County Attorney". al. 2016-11-14. Retrieved 2020-03-12.
  34. Times, Birmingham (2018-07-12). "Meet Candidates in Tuesday's 2018 Jefferson County Commission Runoff Elections". The Birmingham Times. Retrieved 2020-03-12.
  35. "A son of Ensley fueled by family tragedy aims to 'do what's right' as Jefferson County DA". al. 2017-01-22. Retrieved 2020-03-10.
  36. "Only on 12: Lowndes County Buries Civil Rights Hero". WSFA. Retrieved 2019-01-14.
  37. THOMPSON, JEFF. "Menefee assumes role as first black male AAPJ president". The Tuskegee News. Retrieved 2019-01-14.
  38. Patton, Gwendolyn M. "Charles Conley Collection, Trenholm State Community College". www.trenholmstate.edu. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
  39. "Hearing Is Slated Today For Weeks". The Cullman Times, June 19, 1973. Retrieved 2017-09-23.
  40. Strunk, Taylor Peyton (2015-03-22). "A drum major for justice, Thomas Henry Figures". al. Retrieved 2020-03-11.
  41. Fausset, Richard; Pérez-Peña, Richard; Wolfe, Kalyn (2015-02-10). "Federal Judge Sets Hearing in Alabama on Same-Sex Marriage". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-03-16.
  42. "Birmingham defense attorney becomes first African American assistant district attorney in Walker County history". al. 2013-10-11. Retrieved 2020-03-11.
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