Louis Berry
Louis Berry | |
---|---|
Born | |
Political party | Democrat |
Louis Berry (October 9, 1914 – May 3, 1998) was the first
.Background
A son of Frank Berry Sr., a tailor and grocer in Alexandria, Louis Berry graduated in 1941 from
On August 1, 1945, Berry became the first African-American admitted to the practice of law in
Legal practice
Berry returned to his native Alexandria sometimes prior to 1950. Under the custom of the time, a new lawyer had to be introduced to the local bar association. When other white attorneys turned down Berry and privately ridiculed him,
Berry worked with black ministers in Rapides Parish to register African-American citizens under the
The Alexandria Daily Town Talk attributed much of the improvement in living conditions in the black community to Berry's activism. The newspaper quoted Berry as having said: "Young people will be surprised to know the conditions under which blacks had to exist at the time, for they really had no rights that anybody was bound to respect."[5]
In 1996, some two years before his death in Lafayette, Louisiana, Berry was inducted into the Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame in Winnfield. Camille Gravel had been inducted a year earlier in 1995.[6]
References
- ^ ISBN 978-1-4567-6032-8. Retrieved July 13, 2013.
- ^ "Rachel L. Emanuel, "History: Black Lawyersin Louisiana Prior to 1950," August/September 2005, p. 108" (PDF). lsba.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 12, 2012. Retrieved July 13, 2013.
- ^ "Stevan C. Dittman, "Camille Gravel"" (PDF). The Advocate legal newsletter, Vo1. 19 No. 1 (Fall 2009). Retrieved July 13, 2013.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Jesse N. Stone, Noted Louisiana Lawyer And Educator, Dies At 76". Jet. Vol. 99, no. 25. Johnson Publishing Company. 2001-06-05. p. 53. Retrieved 2020-06-20.
- ^ Alexandria Daily Town Talk, April 29, 2007
- ^ "Hall of Fame Inductees". cityofwinnfield.com. Archived from the original on December 7, 2013. Retrieved July 13, 2013.