List of first minority male lawyers and judges in Massachusetts

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

Firsts in state history

George Lewis Ruffin: First African American male law graduate (1869) and judge in (1883) Massachusetts

Law Degree

Lawyers
  • Macon Bolling Allen (1845):[4][5] First African American male lawyer in Massachusetts
  • Harry Dow (1929):[6] First Chinese American male lawyer in Massachusetts
Justice of the Peace
Judges
Superior Court
  • Edward Gourdin:[14] First African American male to become a superior court judge in Massachusetts (1958)
  • Raffi Yessayan:[15] First Armenian American male to serve as a Judge of the Massachusetts Superior Court (2015)
District Court
  • Elwood S. McKenney:[16] First African American male to serve as a Presiding Judge of a district court in Massachusetts
Supreme Court
  • Roderick L. Ireland (1975):[17] First African American male appointed as a Justice (1997) and Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Court (2000)

Attorney General

Assistant Attorney General
  • David S. Nelson:[21] First African American male to serve as the Assistant Attorney General for Massachusetts (1971)

Bar Association
  • Wayne Budd:[22] First African American male to serve as the President of the Massachusetts Bar Association (1979-1980)
  • Mark Mason:[23] First openly LGBT male to serve as the President of the Massachusetts Bar Association (2006)
  • Robert Harnais:[24] First Hispanic American male to become President of the Massachusetts Bar Association (2015)

Firsts in local history

Alphabetized by county name

Middlesex County
  • George Lewis Ruffin (1869):[1][2][3] First African American male to earn a law degree from Harvard University [Middlesex County, Massachusetts]
  • John Ward:[25] First openly LGBT male lawyer in Boston, Massachusetts (1977) [Suffolk County, Massachusetts]
  • Ronald S. Sullivan, Jr. (1994):[26] First African American male to serve as a faculty dean at Harvard University [Middlesex County, Massachusetts]
  • Ralph C. Martin, Jr.:[27] First African American male to serve as the District Attorney for Middlesex County, Massachusetts (1992-2002)

Suffolk County
  • Takeo Kikuchi (1877):[19] First Japanese male to graduate from the Boston University School of Law. He would later co-found Chuo University in Tokyo, Japan. [Suffolk County, Massachusetts]
  • Emanuel Hewlett (1877):[19][28] First African American male to graduate from the Boston University School of Law [Suffolk County, Massachusetts]
  • Harry Elam (1951):[19][29] First African American male appointed as a Judge of the Boston Municipal Court (1971) [Suffolk County, Massachusetts]

See also

Other topics of interest

References
  1. Sollors, Werner; Titcomb, Caldwell; Underwood, Thomas A. (March 1993). Blacks at Harvard: A Documentary History of African-American Experience at Harvard and Radcliffe. NYU Press. ISBN 9780814779736.
  2. Adams, Stacy Hawkins. "George Lewis Ruffin". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Retrieved 2018-01-11.
  3. "George Lewis Ruffin". Massachusetts Hall of Black Achievement. 2011-01-01.
  4. Hornby, D. Brock (Spring 2020). "History Lessons: Instructive Legal Episodes From Maine's Early Years — Episode 1: Becoming a Lawyer." Green Bag 2d. 23: 195.
  5. "America's first Black Lawyer, Macon B. Allen". African American Registry. Retrieved 2016-10-08.
  6. "First Chinese lawyer in Mass. honored at alma mater Suffolk University". sampan.org. Retrieved 2017-09-23.
  7. Nuestro. Nuestro Publications. 1980.
  8. "GRABAU'S WILLINGNESS TO TAKE STANDS FINDS HIM IN SPOTLIGHT AGAIN". highbeam.com. The Boston Globe March 30, 1989. Archived from the original on 2015-04-02.
  9. Asian-American Lawyers Association of Massachusetts. "AALAM's History". aalam.org.
  10. Columnist, Adrian Walker-. "A judge's plea for justice - The Boston Globe". BostonGlobe.com. Retrieved 2018-12-18.
  11. Chuck Colbert, A Judicial Orientation Archived 2011-04-27 at the Wayback Machine, Boston Spirit Magazine (November 18, 2008).
  12. Loren King, Retired Judge Dermot Meagher shares tales from the inner sanctum in his new book, "Judge Sentences.", Provincetown Banner (September 18, 2010).
  13. King, Loren. "Retired Judge Dermot Meagher shares tales from the inner sanctum in his new book, "Judge Sentences."". Wicked Local Provincetown. Retrieved 2018-12-18.
  14. "B.U. Bridge: Boston University community's weekly newspaper". www.bu.edu. Retrieved 2018-12-18.
  15. Boyajian, David (2015-02-04). "Raffi Yessayan Now a Massachusetts Superior Court Justice". The Armenian Weekly. Retrieved 2018-12-18.
  16. admin (2003-11-24). "Elwood S. McKenney". Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly. Retrieved 2020-02-17.
  17. "Roderick Ireland - College of Social Sciences and Humanities". College of Social Sciences and Humanities. Retrieved 2018-01-29.
  18. "Ed Brooke won and lost with grace". The Herald News, Fall River, MA. Retrieved 2018-12-13.
  19. "A History of Diversity at BU Law | School of Law". www.bu.edu. Retrieved 2018-12-13.
  20. Martin, Douglas (2015-01-03). "Edward W. Brooke III, 95, Senate Pioneer, Is Dead". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-12-13.
  21. "About - Lynch School of Education and Human Development - Boston College". www.bc.edu. Retrieved 2019-06-22.
  22. "Lawyers Journal-2011-June". www.massbar.org. Retrieved 2019-01-05.
  23. "Mark Mason's Story of Endurance". www.massbar.org. September 2006. Retrieved 2019-01-06.
  24. "Robert Harnais becomes first Hispanic president of Mass. Bar Association". masslive.com. Retrieved 2018-12-18.
  25. "A career spent fighting for the rights of LGBTQ+ individuals". Boston University. Retrieved 2020-06-13.
  26. Chotiner, Isaac (2019-03-07). "A Harvard Law School Professor Defends His Decision to Represent Harvey Weinstein". ISSN 0028-792X. Retrieved 2019-03-08.
  27. Butterfield, Fox (1992-07-31). "Black Republican Is Appointed District Attorney for Boston Area". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-06-28.
  28. "DC Law Said African Americans Could Eat Anywhere. The Reality Was Different. | School of Law". www.bu.edu. Retrieved 2018-12-13.
  29. Reporter, Bryan Marquard-. "Harry J. Elam Sr., 90, pioneering black jurist in Massachusetts - The Boston Globe". BostonGlobe.com. Retrieved 2018-12-13.
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