Robert Heberton Terrell
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Robert Heberton Terrell
Born November 27, 1857
Died December 20, 1925
Education Groton Academy, Harvard University, Howard University of Law
Robert Heberton Terrell, was the first African American justice of the peace to serve in Washington, DC. He was born in Orange, Virginia on November 27, 1857 to parents Harris and Louisa Ann Terrell.[1][2] Terrell was one of seven magna cum laude scholars to graduate from Harvard University in 1884, he later went on to attend Howard University School of Law.
Contents [hide]
1 Career
1.1 Municipal Court of the District of Columbia
1.2 Howard University Law
2 Biography
2.1 Marriage and family
2.2 Death
3 References
Career[edit]
From 1884-1889, Terrell taught at the M. Street High School. In 1899, Terrell is promoted to principal of the M. Street High School, a position he leaves in 1901. [2]
In 1889, Terrell was appointed the chief of division, Office of the Fourth Auditor of the U.S. Treasury Department.[2]
In 1896, Terrell began a partnership with John R. Lynch to create the law firm of Lynch and Terrell in Washington D.C. Their firm existed for just about two years and came to a close in the year 1898 when President William McKinley appointed Lynch a "a Major and Paymaster of volunteers to serve as such in the Spanish-American war. [2]
Municipal Court of the District of Columbia[edit]
In 1901, Terrell accepted an appointment to serve as a justice of the peace in Washington D.C., which made him the first African-American justice of the peace in Washington D.C.[1] This marked a difficult time for Terrell and other African American leaders during this time, because the same government that saw Terrell and other fit to lead in government, and appointed Terrell judge, did not believe in granting civil rights to other and all African Americans. In 1910, Terrell was appointed by William Howard Taft to the Municipal Court of the District of Columbia. Terrell was appointed and reappointed by Presidents Taft, Roosevelt, and Wilson. [3]
Howard University Law[edit]
Terrell became a faculty member at the Howard University of Law in 1911, while still serving as a municipal judge. In February 1911 he became a charter member of the first Washington D.C. chapter of Sigma Pi Phi fraternity, the oldest African American fraternity in the nation. He remained in this position until his death in 1925. [2]
Biography[edit]
Marriage and family[edit]
On October 18, 1891, Terrell married Mary Church Terrell. The two met at the Preparatory School for Colored Youth, now known as the M Street High School, in Washington, D.C.[4]
Death[edit]
About four years before his death, Terrell suffered from his first stroke. About a year later he had a second stroke, and it was this stroke that left him paralyzed on one side of his body. Regardless of his severe asthma and his declining health, Robert continued to serve as a municipal court judge. In early December of 1925, Terrell's asthma and health began to worsen, Terrell later died at his home on December 20, 1925. [1] Robert H. Terrell had an obituary featured in The Crisis, the official magazine of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, where he is described as "a good man fellow : tall and healthy to look at ; a lover of men, of his social glass, of a good story with a Lincoln tang to it." [5]
References[edit]
^ Jump up to: a b c "Terrell, Robert H.(1857–1925) - Lawyer, judge, Chronology". encyclopedia.jrank.org. Retrieved 2016-05-16.
^ Jump up to: a b c d e Terrell, Robert (1954). "Robert H. Terrell Papers (1870-1954)" (PDF). The Library of Congress. Retrieved 2016-05-16.
Jump up ^ Inc, The Crisis Publishing Company (1918-06-01). The Crisis. The Crisis Publishing Company, Inc.
Jump up ^ "Terrell, Robert H. (1857-1925) | The Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed". www.blackpast.org. Retrieved 2016-05-15.
Jump up ^ Inc, The Crisis Publishing Company (1926-03-01). The Crisis. The Crisis Publishing Company, Inc.