List of first minority male lawyers and judges in Virginia
This is a list of the first minority male lawyer(s) and judge(s) in Virginia. 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 graduate from law school or become a political figure.
Firsts in Virginia's history
Lawyer
- First African American male: Wathal G. Wynn (1871)[1][2][3]
- First African American male (practice before the Supreme Court of Virginia): Joseph (J.) Thomas Newsome[4]
Law Clerk
- First African American male to clerk for the Supreme Court of Virginia: Jerrauld Jones (1980)[5]
State judges
- First African American male (elected): Daniel M. Norton in 1866[6][7]
- First African American male (actively serve): James A. Fields in 1879[8][9][10]
- First African American male (since Reconstruction Era): Willard Douglas (1949) in 1974[11][12][13]
- First African American male (Virginia Supreme Court): John Charles Thomas (1975) in 1983[14][15]
- First African American male (Virginia Court of Appeals): James W. Benton in 1984[6]
- First Native American (Cherokee) male: Charles Riley Cloud in 1986[16]
- First African American male (Chief Justice; Virginia Supreme Court): Leroy R. Hassell Sr. (1980) in 2003[17]
- First Asian American male (Vietnamese descent): John M. Tran (1984) in 2013[18][19]
- First openly gay male: Tracy Thorne-Begland in 2013[20]
- First Indian American male: Rupen Shah in 2017[21]
Federal judges
- First African American male: James R. Spencer (1974) in 1986[22][23][24]
- First African American male (U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit): Roger Gregory (1978) in 2000[25]
- First African American male (United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia): Ivan D. Davis in 2008[26]
- First African American male (Chief Justice; U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit): Roger Gregory (1978) in 2016[25]
- First (African American) openly LGBT male (United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia): Jamar K. Walker in 2023[27]
Attorney General of Virginia
- First Latino American male: Jason Miyares in 2022[28]
Assistant United States Attorney
- First African American male (Eastern District of Virginia): William T. Mason, Jr.[29]
Bar associations
- First Jewish American male (Virginia State Bar): Michael A. Glasser in 2014[30]
- First African American male (Virginia Bar Association): Victor Cardwell in 2022[31]
Firsts in local history
- James Ghee (c. 1970s):[32] First African American male lawyer in Farmville, Cumberland County and Prince Edward County, Virginia
- Jesse Pollard:[33] First African American male judge in Arlington County, Virginia
- Daniel T. Lopez:[34] First Latino American male judge in Arlington County, Virginia (2019)
- Gregory Swanson:[35] First African American male admitted to the University of Virginia School of Law (1950)
- John Merchant:[36] First African American male to graduate from the University of Virginia School of Law (1958)
- Larry S. Gibson (1967):[37] First African American male to serve as a law professor for the University of Virginia School of Law (1972)
- Marcus Doyle Williams:[38] First African American male judge in Fairfax County, Virginia (1987)
- Thomas Calhoun "T.C." Walker:[39][40] First African American male lawyer in Gloucester County, Virginia
- Garland P. Faison:[41] First African American male to serve as a Justice of the Peace in Greensville County, Virginia
- Wilford Taylor, Jr.:[42] First African American male judge in Hampton, Virginia
- Eugene Butler:[43] First African American male judge in Lynchburg, Virginia (2023)
- David F. Pugh:[44] First African American male judge in Newport News, Virginia (1990)
- R.G.L. Paige:[45] Reputed to be the first African American male lawyer in Norfolk, Virginia
- Lester V. Moore:[46] First African American male judge in Norfolk, Virginia (c. 1975)
- Carlos Flores Laboy:[47] First Latino American male judge in Prince William County, Virginia (2020)
- Herman Benn (1958):[48] First African American male lawyer, Assistant City Attorney (1967), and Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney (1976) in Richmond, Virginia
- T.D. Taylor (c. 1969):[49] First African American male lawyer in Warsaw, Richmond County, Virginia
- Onzlee Ware:[50] First African American male to serve as a Judge of the Roanoke Circuit Court (2020)
- Kevin Duffan:[51] First African American male to serve as a circuit judge in Virginia Beach, Virginia (2020)
- James A. Fields:[9][10] First African American male lawyer and judicial officer in Warwick County, Virginia
- Albert Durant Sr.:[52] First African American male to serve as a Justice of the Peace and magistrate in Williamsburg, Virginia [Williamsburg-James City County, Virginia]
- William Stone:[53] First African American male judge in Williamsburg-James City County, Virginia
- A. Benjamin Spencer:[54] First African American male to serve as the Dean of the College of William & Mary (2020)
See also
Other topics of interest
- List of first women lawyers and judges in the United States
- List of first women lawyers and judges in Virginia
References
- ISBN 978-0-8122-1685-1.
- ISBN 978-0-8093-3677-7.
- ISBN 978-0-313-39224-5.
- ProQuest 342438242.
- ^ Press, BARRY FLYNN Daily (6 February 1995). "HIGH PROFILE: Q&A: JERRAULD C. JONES". dailypress.com. Retrieved 2020-06-05.
- ^ a b ""To Benefit All, to Exclude None": Judicial Trailblazers in Virginia". Virginia Appellate Court History. 2016-06-06. Retrieved 2022-02-26.
- ^ Norton was denied the ability to serve as a judge despite his election.
- ^ "121-5004 James A. Fields House". Virginia Department of Historic Resources.
- ^ a b "Winter Catalog". Virginia Beach Parks & Recreation. Retrieved 2018-02-13.
- ^ ISBN 0812216857.
- ^ "Historical Paintings in Amherst County - Amherst County Guidebook". Amherst County Guidebook. 2013-09-16. Retrieved 2018-01-11.
- ^ Jet. Johnson Publishing Company. 1974-02-21.
- ^ "Willard H. Douglas, Jr., elected judge". Virginia Appellate Court History. 2016-07-29. Retrieved 2018-01-11.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-01-30.
- ^ "Former Virginia Supreme Court Justice John Charles Thomas to speak at Convocation | William & Mary". www.wm.edu. Retrieved 2018-01-30.
- ISBN 978-0-313-30167-4.
- ^ McGlone, Julian Walker, Tim. "Va. Supreme Court Justice Leroy Hassell, 55, dies". Virginian-Pilot. Retrieved 2018-01-12.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Jackman, Tom (2013-04-05). "McLean's John Tran named first Asian-American judge in Va. history". Washington Post. Retrieved 2018-02-15.
- ^ "Alumnus Named First Asian-American Judge in Virginia History | GW Law | The George Washington University". www.law.gwu.edu. Retrieved 2018-02-15.
- ^ "Virginia's first openly gay judge takes oath amid tears, applause". WTVR. 2013-03-01. Retrieved 2022-02-15.
- ^ "First Indian-American Judge Appointed in Virginia". Retrieved 2018-01-26.
- ^ Upon Spencer's appointment as a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in 1986
- ^ "James R. Spencer". University of Virginia School of Law. 2017-06-28. Retrieved 2018-01-18.
- ^ Times-Dispatch, FRANK GREEN Richmond (29 April 2013). "Va.'s first African-American federal judge to semi-retire next year". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Retrieved 2019-01-14.
- ^ a b "Judge Roger Gregory Makes History Again". The Seattle Medium. 2016-07-18. Retrieved 2018-01-13.
- ProQuest 343554500.
- ^ "President Biden Makes Second Round of Judicial Nominations in Two days". National Law Journal. Retrieved 2024-02-22.
- ^ "Jason Miyares, sworn in as attorney general, makes history as first Latino to hold statewide office in Virginia". WRIC ABC 8News. 2022-01-15. Retrieved 2022-02-26.
- ^ "Colby Magazine vol. 100, no. 3". Issuu. 31 August 2011. Retrieved 2020-03-12.
- ^ Crews, Edward R. (2014). "Legal Leaders". Richmond Law (via Issuu). Retrieved 2019-01-07.
- ^ Walker, Randy (2022-07-28). "Roanoke's Victor Cardwell is first Black president of Virginia Bar Association". Cardinal News. Retrieved 2024-02-06.
- ISBN 9780226063898.
- ^ Patterson, Michael Robert (2023-06-21). "Freedman's Village: a lost chapter of Arlington's Black History". Arlington National Cemetery. Retrieved 2023-06-22.
- ^ "First Latino Judge Sworn In at Arlington General District Court". ARLnow.com - Arlington, Va. Local News. 2019-05-23. Retrieved 2019-07-17.
- ^ Wharton, Amy. "Law Library Guides: Our History: Featured Alumni/ae: Swanson, Gregory H., 1950". libguides.law.virginia.edu. Retrieved 2022-03-15.
- ^ "In Memoriam: John Merchant, UVA's First Black Law Graduate, Advocate for Diversity in Golf". UVA Today. 2020-03-10. Retrieved 2022-03-15.
- ^ "Larry Gibson's Biography". The HistoryMakers. Retrieved 2022-03-15.
- ISBN 9781578594252.
- ^ "National Register of Historic Places Registration Form" (PDF). United States Department of the Interior National Park Service. 2009.
- ^ "Black humane history found in great-grandpa's attic near a town called Ark". Animals 24-7. 2022-01-15. Retrieved 2022-02-05.
- ^ WRAY-WELSH, TERESA (18 February 2019). "Celebrating Black History". Independent-Messenger. Retrieved 2020-03-13.
- ^ "Hampton district judge retiring". Daily Press. May 12, 1995. Retrieved 2019-03-28.
- ^ Staff, Web (2023-04-05). "Lynchburg's First Black Judge To Be Sworn In June 30 - The New Journal and Guide". Retrieved 2023-04-11.
- ProQuest 342446804.
- ^ "Paige, R. G. L. (1846–1904)". www.encyclopediavirginia.org. Retrieved 2017-09-24.
- ^ "TRAILBLAZING JURIST RETIRES, REFLECTS ON HIS ROLE IN LIVES". scholar.lib.vt.edu. Retrieved 2019-01-17.
- ^ Berti, Daniel (11 March 2020). "General Assembly approves first Latino judge for Prince William". Prince William Times. Retrieved 2020-03-14.
- ProQuest 342809878.
- ^ Slayton, Jeremy. "Lawyer T.D. Taylor, 72, dies". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Retrieved 2018-02-13.
- ^ Friedenberger, Amy (March 12, 2020). "Ex-legislator Onzlee Ware promoted to become Roanoke Circuit Court's first black judge". Roanoke Times. Retrieved 2020-03-13.
- ^ Harper, Jane (5 March 2020). "Virginia Beach to get its first black Circuit Court judge". pilotonline.com. Retrieved 2020-03-07.
- ^ DailyPress.com (17 April 1991). "ALBERT DURANT SR., CIVIC ACTIVIST, 71". dailypress.com. Retrieved 2020-03-13.
- ^ ROBERTSON, ELLEN (30 December 2018). "Faces of 2018: They left their mark, and left us". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Retrieved 2019-01-18.
- ^ "The country's oldest law school names its first Black dean". TheGrio. 2020-05-25. Retrieved 2022-03-15.