List of first minority male lawyers and judges in West Virginia explained

This is a list of the first minority male lawyer(s) and judge(s) in West 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 West Virginia's history

Lawyers

• First African American male: John H. Hill (1881)^[1]
• First African American male (actively practice): J.R. Clifford (1887)^[2]

State judges

• First African American male: Leon P. Miller (1968)^{[3] [4] [5] [6]}
• First African American male (Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia): Franklin Cleckley (1969)^{[7] [8]}

Firsts in local history

• Herman Canady:^[9] First African American male to serve as a Judge of the Kanawha Circuit Court (1982)
• James Knox Smith:^{[10] [11]} First African American male lawyer in McDowell County, West Virginia (c. 1880s)
• Charles E. Price:^[12] First African American male to graduate from the West Virginia University College of Law (1949)
• Franklin Cleckley: First African American male to serve as a law professor at the West Virginia University College of Law (1969)
• Donald L. Pitts:^[13] First African American male to serve as the President of the Raleigh County Bar Association, West Virginia (1996)

See also

• List of first minority male lawyers and judges in the United States

Other topics of interest

• List of first women lawyers and judges in the United States
• List of first women lawyers and judges in West Virginia

Bibliography

• Book: Smith, J. Clay Jr. . J. Clay Smith Jr. . 1999 . Emancipation: The Making of the Black Lawyer, 1844–1944 . . Philadelphia . 978-0-8122-1685-1 . 491962363 . July 25, 2020 . live . . August 13, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200813004018/https://books.google.com/books?id=1lOIjQUG4aoC .
• Woodson . Carter G. . Carter G. Woodson . January 1937 . Notes . . 22 . 1 . 116–140 . . Washington, D.C. . 10.1086/JNHv22n1p116 . 2714327 . 224835338 .

Notes and References

1. Hill became the first African American to be admitted to the bar of the Jefferson County Circuit Court, thus becoming West Virginia's first African-American male lawyer.
2. Web site: HR 22 Text. www.legis.state.wv.us. 2017-09-24.
3. News: The SPHINX Summer 1980 Volume 66 Number 2 198006602. Issuu. 2018-01-11.
4. Book: Jet. 1973-01-11. Johnson Publishing Company.
5. Book: Romero, Patricia W.. In Black America, 1968: The Year of Awakening. 1969. Publishers Company.
6. Web site: Leon P. Miller. www.wvculture.org. 2018-01-11.
7. News: Former W.Va. Supreme Court justice Frank Cleckley dies at age 77. EDITOR. Matt Harvey MANAGING. WV News. 2018-01-30.
8. Franklin Cleckley receives 2011 Liberty Bell Award . West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals . March 8, 2011.
9. News: . Bott . Rachelle . Canady leaving bench in April; County's first black judge announces his retirement . The Charleston Gazette . 10 January 2002 . 1C .
10. Book: Trotter. Joe William. Coal, Class, and Color: Blacks in Southern West Virginia, 1915-32. Trotter. Professor of History Joe William Jr.. 1990. University of Illinois Press. 978-0-252-06119-6. en.
11. Book: Smith, J. Clay Jr.. Emancipation: The Making of the Black Lawyer, 1844-1944. 1999. University of Pennsylvania Press. 978-0-8122-1685-1. en.
12. Web site: History College of Law West Virginia University . 2022-03-16 . www.law.wvu.edu.
13. Web site: Bishop Donald L. Pitts « Altmeyer Obituary Archive. obituaryarchive.altmeyer.com. 2019-01-05.