BHS Day 25: William Hastie

 

Hi! For our last ELM Spotlight in this year's series I decided to give the extra entry to the Legal third. I believe in years past I gave it to the medical or education fields, but I can't clearly remember giving it to the legal third too many times. I also noticed that I don't give a lot of attention to those in the legal field that didn't later go into politics. Today's entrant paved the way for Blacks in the upper levels of the legal system, and I wanted to give those accomplishments a moment in the sun. Per usual, please check out today's further reading and resource links, more so the last two. Let's get into it!

Source

Name: William Henry Hastie, Jr., 1904-1976

Profession: Lawyer, federal judge, educator, advocate

Why is the Spotlight on him today? For his achievements and contributions to the legal industry and his dedication to fighting for equality through his work

Notables:

--Was appointed by then-President Roosevelt to the District Court of the Virgin Islands, making him the first Black federal judge

--Became the first Black federal appellate judge after receiving a recess appointment from then-President Truman

--Was appointed by then-President Truman to become the first Black Territorial Governor of the US Virgin Islands

--Served as an assistant solicitor for the US Department of the Interior, where he advised the agency about racial issues, namely the overwhelming amount of inequality Blacks faced

--Graduated magna cum laude from Amherst College with a Bachelor of Arts

--Won himself support and recognition from his peers and civilians for his moderate and fair approach on the bench

--Was a behind the scenes instrument in changing how Black soldiers were treated alongside their White counterparts

--Graduated from Harvard Law with a Bachelor of Law then a Doctorate's in Juridical Science three years later

--Was the second African-American to sit on the editorial board of the Harvard Law Review

--Served as a civilian aide to the Secretary of War, where he advocated for the equal treatment of Black soldiers during World War II and eventually resigned in protest

--Taught law at Howard University to a number of students, including Thurgood Marshall, and later returned as Dean over Howard's Law school

--Plead a number of cases with Marshall, including the landmark Smith v Allright, which resulted in voting rights for Blacks, and Morgan v Virginia, which removed the Southern requirement to segregate buses (although this continued even after the ruling)

--Was honored by Yale, the main rival to his alma mater Harvard, with an honorary doctorate for his work

--Was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa and Omega Psi Phi fraternities, the former from Amherst and the latter from Howard

--Created the New Negro Alliance, which was meant to strong arm employers into hiring more Black workers through boycotts and pickets

--Was honored by Philadelphia's Third Circuit Library by having it renamed after him

--Was awarded NAACP's Spingarn Medal for helping to create the foundation for the arguments NAACP used when arguing against segregation in public and educational sectors

Further reading and resources:

1 | 2 | 3 

Quote of the Day:

“For too long in America, whites have been up, and blacks have been down. We are trying as never before to correct this racial disparity. In the process whites must free themselves from the false pride in their whiteness, and many of them are doing so. But it will not help for blacks, aping the worst characteristics of whites, to acquire false pride and arrogance in their blackness.”

-William Hastie

Today's organization: Campaign for Black Male Achievement

What does this organization provide? Support, encouragement and empowerment for Black men across the nation to be their best. The organization focuses on a number of issues that affect the Black male community--criminal justice and reform, youth development, responsible fatherhood and families, narrative change (to name a few),--and makes a point to help the men counter those issues through education and support. 

Donate | Join | Resources | Shop

See you tomorrow!