Black Lawyers in the 1930s

African-American lawyers were a scarce commodity in 1930.

A recent post on the ConLawBlog posed the question of how many African-American lawyers there were in the United States in 1930.  This is a subject that I have been studying for some time, and thanks to a heads up from Professor Idleman, I was able to answer the question.

According to the U.S. Census, in 1930, there were only 1247 black lawyers in the entire United States in 1930, out of a total number of 160,605 lawyers.  Of the 1247, 1223 were male and only 24 were female.

Even though the Great Migration had begun after World War I, the bulk of the African-American population still lived in the South in 1930. However, thanks to racial prejudice and limited economic opportunities below the Mason-Dixon line, a significant majority of black lawyers lived outside the South.

The largest concentrations of black male lawyers was in Illinois, which had 187 male African-American attorneys.

Other states with significant numbers were New York (117); Ohio (94); Michigan (63); and Indiana (62). The only Southern jurisdictions with comparable numbers were the District of Columbia (94); and Virginia (57).

Complete state-by-state breakdowns for the 24 females are not provided in the published Census Reports for 1930.  The largest number of black female lawyers appears to have been in the District of Columbia, where there were four.

As a percentage of total lawyers, black male lawyers accounted for more than 2% of total male lawyers only in the District of Columbia (2.8%) and Virginia (2.4%). If female lawyers are included — and the number of female lawyers in those two jurisdictions is available — the percentage of black lawyers in each of those two jurisdictions actually goes up slightly, but was still less than 3%.

Nowhere was the absence of black lawyers in 1930 more shocking than in the Deep South.  In spite of the large black population, proportionately much larger than it is today, Alabama had only 4 black lawyers, while Mississippi, Louisiana, and Florida had only 6, 8, and 10, respectively.  The totals for Georgia and South Carolina were just 14 and 13.

Black lawyers were more numerous in the other former Confederate states, but only slightly: North Carolina (27), Tennessee (26), Arkansas (16), and Texas (20).

Not surprisingly, given the small pre-World War II black population of Wisconsin, black lawyers were scarce in the Badger State.  According to the 1930 Census, there were only three black male lawyers in Wisconsin in 1930, although there was also at least one black female attorney, former Marquette law student Mabel Raimey.  (The three black male lawyers included law partners George Heriot DeReef, A.B. Nutt, and James Weston Dorsey, and Ambrose B. Nutt, all of Milwaukee.)

By way of comparison, Minnesota had 11 black lawyers in 1930, while Iowa had 7.  North and South Dakota had none.

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Oldest Living Marquette Law School Graduate Passes Away, Excelled in Law and Sports

Frank Zummach, thought to be the oldest living graduate of the Marquette Law School, passed away on April 30, in his hometown of Sheboygan at age 101.

In addition to a long career as a member of the Wisconsin bar, Zummach also played and coached basketball at Marquette, and from 1939-1942, he served as head coach of the Sheboygan Redskins of the National Basketball League, a forerunner of the NBA.

Zummach, a Milwaukee native, attended Marquette High School, and enrolled as a college student at Marquette in 1929. He began playing basketball for Marquette in 1930, and he entered the law school in 1932, with one year of varsity eligibility remaining.

Zummach continued to play on the Hilltopper varsity team as a first year law student and then switched to the role of assistant coach once his eligibility as a player expired. When he received his law degree in 1935, Frank was a member of the second class of Marquette Law students to be admitted to the bar under the diploma privilege. Because of the quality of his work in law school, he received the J.D. degree, rather than the then more common, L.L.B.

Frank gave up coaching in the fall of 1942 and for the next six decades, he practiced law in Sheboygan. In the late 1990’s, he was “rediscovered” by basketball historians and was a frequently lauded figure in basketball circles during the final fifteen years of his life.

For more on Frank’s career, see my post “The Marquette Law School Graduate Who Coached in the NBA Finals.” An extended obituary from the Sheboygan Press can be found at here.

 

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Falk: Walker’s Values Are Not Wisconsin’s Values

The almost-certain upcoming recall election for governor will be a chance for Wisconsinites to re-assert what their values are when it comes to government, Democratic candidate Kathleen Falk said Wednesday at Marquette University Law School.

That, in her view, means the election will lead to the defeat of Gov. Scott Walker, the Republican who “has so torn this state apart and exercised such an extreme far right agenda.” The values that underlie Walker’s actions since he became “aren’t our values,” Falk told Mike Gousha during an “On the Issues” session at Eckstein Hall. The event can be viewed by clicking here.

The recall election could be coming quickly, depending on how soon the state’s Government Accountability Board acts, and the Democratic field has not yet fully taken shape. But Falk has drawn the most support so far of those Democrats who say they intend to run.

The most highly publicized part of Falk’s campaign has been her pledge to veto any state budget bill that does not restore the collective bargaining powers of public employee unions that were taken away last year in action spurred by Walker. Her pledge earned her endorsements from major unions but criticism on the editorial pages of some state newspapers.

Falk told Gousha and the audience that it wouldn’t be effective to introduce a bill to reverse last year’s action that stripped public unions of almost their powers. Calling a special session of the Legislature wouldn’t work either. Republicans are very likely to remain in control of at least the Assembly and they would block any action by those routes.

That makes taking a firm stand to veto the budget unless it restores union powers the only realistic path she could take as governor, she said.

“The only bill that has to pass every two years – there is only one – is the budget bill,” Falk said. “That is why Gov. Walker eliminated collective bargaining by the budget bill. That’s how you have to restore it. And if you are not willing to go to the mat and say truthfully how you will do it . . . then you are not honoring the million people who signed that petition (to recall Walker) and it isn’t being open and honest. I thought campaigns were about telling people what you’re going to do and how you’re going to do it.”

Gousha asked her whether such a stand could be bring deadlock over the budget. “Those Assembly Republicans will see that the vision they had has been rejected by Wisconsin citizens, and I believe they will be in a more compromising mood, and that is what a budget bill is about,” Falk said.

Falk said she was successful as Dane County executive in running a government that was frugal with money and willing to change as financial circumstances changed. She said she worked well with people of all political views and was able to get unions representing Dane County workers to make concessions by convincing of them of the need for “shared sacrifice.”

She emphasized her personal story, including her childhood living in Milwaukee and Waukesha County, and referred to herself several times as “the granddaughter of a bus driver from Milwaukee.”

Gousha said at the end of the conversation that the Law School policy is not to take political sides and major candidates for major offices from both parties have been invited to “On the Issues” sessions. He said Walker has had an open invitation but has not accepted the offer since taking office 14 months ago.

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