List of first minority male lawyers and judges in Delaware

This is a list of the first minority male lawyer(s) and judge(s) in Delaware. 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 graduate from law school or become a political figure.

Firsts in Delaware's history

Lawyers

• First Jewish American male: Aaron Finger (1912) ^[1]
• First African American male: Louis L. Redding (1929) ^[2]
• First Native American male: Kenneth S. Clark, Jr. (1982) ^[3]

State judges

• First Jewish American male (justice of the peace): Moses Weil in 1901 ^[4]
• First Italian American male: James Gallo in 1901 ^[5]
• First Jewish American male: Aaron Finger (1912) in 1917 ^[1]
• First Jewish American male (superior court): Daniel L. Herrmann in 1951 ^[6]
• First African American male: Sidney Clark (1956) in 1961 ^{[7] [8]}
• First Jewish American male (Delaware Supreme Court; justice and chief justice): Daniel L. Herrmann in 1964 and 1973 respectively ^{[6] [9]}
• First African American male (Delaware Superior Court): Joshua W. Martin III in 1982 ^{[10] [11] [12]}
• First African American male (chief judge): Alex J. Smalls in 1997 ^[3]
• First Native American male: Kenneth S. Clark, Jr. in 2000 (upon his appointment to the Court of Common Pleas) ^[3]
• First African American male (Delaware Supreme Court): N. Christopher Griffiths in 2023 ^[13]

Federal judges

• First Jewish American male (U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware): ^[14] Murray Merle Schwartz in 1974
• First African American male (U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware): Gregory M. Sleet (1976) in 1998 ^[15]
• First African American male (magistrate; Southern District Court of Delaware): Courtney Houston ^[16]

Attorney General of Delaware

• First Jewish American male: H. Albert Young in 1950 ^[17]

United States Attorney

• First African American male: Gregory M. Sleet (1976) ^[15]

Delaware State Bar Association

• First African American male (president): Joshua W. Martin III ^{[10] [11] [12]}

Firsts in local history

• Leonard Williams (1959): ^{[18] [19] [20]} First African American male to serve on the Wilmington Municipal Court (1966) ^[21] [ New Castle County, Delaware]

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 Delaware

References

1. Carpenter II, E. N. "Memories of a Lucky Delaware Lawyer" (PDF). Delaware Lawyer. 19 (3).
2. "Louis L. Redding, first Black lawyer in Delaware and civil rights pioneer". African American Registry. Retrieved 2016-10-08.
3. Oberste, Mae (2021-09-01). "Notable "Firsts" of the Court of Common Pleas". DSBA Bar Journal. Retrieved 2024-12-20.
4. "Half a Chance: Stories of Jewish Delawareans—Serving the Community: The Professions". jhsdelaware.org. Retrieved 2024-05-17.
5. Nash, Suzi (2009-11-25). "Carl J. Minster 3d and David J. Facciolo". Philadelphia Gay News. Retrieved 2024-06-06.
6. Delaware Lawyer: A Publication of Delaware Bar Foundation. The Foundation. 1998.
7. "History of the Former Municipal Court of Wilmington - Court of Common Pleas - Delaware Courts - State of Delaware". courts.delaware.gov. Retrieved 2018-01-11.
8. Clark, Sidney J. (1998). "The Road to Delaware" (PDF). Delaware Lawyer. 16 (2): 30–33.
9. Levin, Richard (2019). "JHSD ANNUAL MEETING 2019" (PDF). Jewish Historical Society of Delaware.
10. "Delaware Grapevine". www.delawaregrapevine.com. Retrieved 2020-02-21.
11. "Race and the Criminal Justice System in Delaware". ACLU Delaware. 2013-10-03. Retrieved 2019-01-05.
12. "Meet Some of Delaware's 2016 Top Lawyers". Delaware Today. 2016-10-27. Retrieved 2020-03-14.
13. "State Supreme Court Diversity — May 2023 Update | Brennan Center for Justice". www.brennancenter.org. 2019-07-23. Retrieved 2023-06-02.
14. Hoffecker, Carol (1992). "Federal Justice in the First State" (PDF). The Historical Society for the United District Court for the District of Delaware.
15. "Hon. Gregory Sleet | Rutgers Law". law.rutgers.edu. Retrieved 2018-01-19.
16. "COURTNEY HOUSTON". News Journal. 24 September 2005. ProQuest   1967199503.
17. "H. Albert Young · Jewish Historical Society of Delaware Collections". jhsdelaware.org. Retrieved 2024-05-15.
18. Albright, Matthew. "Courthouse to be named after judge Leonard Williams". delawareonline. Retrieved 2020-03-14.
19. Carroll, Beatrice Patton (Summer 1998). "Leonard L. Williams" (PDF). Delaware Lawyer.
20. Hayman, Robert L.; Ware, Leland (November 2010). Choosing Equality: Essays and Narratives on the Desegregation Experience. Penn State Press. ISBN   978-0-271-04803-1.
21. Upon his judicial appointment, Williams became the second African American judge in the state of Delaware after Sidney Clark.