Few individuals can stake such a long list of firsts in American legal history as Macon Bolling Allen, including, most notably, the first African American licensed to practice law. Macon Bolling Allen (born Allen Macon Bolling; August 4, 1816 - October 15, 1894) was an American attorney who is believed to be the first African American to become a lawyer and to argue before a jury, and the second to hold a judicial position in the United States. And while Allen may not yet be a household name, the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center is making his accomplishments known.
United States District Court for the District of Maine, where Allen was admitted to the bar.
Early Life and Career
Allen was born in Indiana in 1816. He later moved to Boston before settling in Portland, Maine in 1844. It was in Maine that Allen began studying law and worked as a legal apprentice to Gen. Samuel Fessenden, a local abolitionist and attorney. According to the Freedom Center, Fessenden advocated for Allen’s admission to Maine’s bar.
Prior to his examination in Maine, Allen studied law in the offices of two white abolitionist lawyers, Samuel E. Sewall and Samuel Fessenden. On July 5, Fessenden wrote to his law partner proclaiming the news of Allen’s successful examination.
I have the pleasure to inform you that our friend & protege, Mr. Macon B Allen was admitted to practice Law at the Bar of our Distric Court for this County, which admission, by Statute of this state, gives him the right to practice in all the state courts of Maine, as well the Supreme Judicial Court as those of inferior Jurisdictions.
Read also: Significance of the Firstborn Plague
It is more honorable to Mr. Allen that this was done, after having submitted to a careful, and protracted examination by the Committee of the Bar, appointed by the SJC for an examining committee. But Allen’s admission was initially denied based on the grounds he was “not a legal citizen” because he was African American.
Allen tried again, pursuing admission by examination, a method that did not require citizenship. On July 3, 1844, Allen was admitted to the Maine bar, becoming the first practicing African American layer in the United States. Nearly a year later in July of 1844 Allen was admitted to the bar in the state of Massachusetts.
Allen moved back to Boston, Massachusetts, and was admitted to the bar there in May 1845. He conducted a jury trial in October 1845 that is believed to be the first time an African American lawyer argued before a jury in the United States. The case was a contract dispute.
Challenges and Later Career
Despite his historic accomplishment, Allen still faced many challenges. Racial prejudice made it difficult for him to earn a living; in 1845, he wrote a letter to John Jay Jr. (the grandson of the country's first Chief Justice) discussing the difficulty of finding clients in Boston and wondering whether he would do better in New York City, with its larger African American population.
With few residents in predominately white Portland, Maine seeking out an African American to represent them legally - and much of the African American population unable to afford representation - Allen moved back to Boston to seek better job opportunities. Following the Civil War, Allen moved to Charleston, South Carolina to be of service to formerly enslaved people in the South.
Read also: Black Education Pioneers
Allen moved to Charleston, South Carolina, following the Civil War and opened a law office with two other African American attorneys, William Whipper and Robert Elliott. Their firm, Whipper, Elliott, and Allen, is the first known African American law firm in the country. Allen was appointed a criminal court and probate judge in Charleston County in 1873 and 1876, defeating a white incumbent for the position.
The state legislature in 1873 elected Allen to be a judge of Charleston County Criminal Court. He served for three years and was elected again in 1876. On display in Macon Bolling Allen is an attachment bond signed by Allen in 1878 while he served as a probate judge.
Allen moved to Washington, D.C., at the end of Reconstruction. Macon Bolling Allen died in 15 October 1894, leaving behind an unnamed widow and a son, Arthur W.
Legacy and Impact
Allen’s influence loomed large in his lifetime and lived on after his death in 1894. His inspiration and example are as important today as they were in the 19th century.
“Macon Allen literally paved the way for every African American attorney that practices today,” said Remington Jackson, president of the Black Lawyers Association of Cincinnati (BLAC). Jackson feels he has managed to get to where he is today in large part because of Allen’s legacy.
Read also: Sade Adu's Grammy Achievement
Given many of the perceived challenges still facing the country’s legal system, the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center and other organizations are using Allen’s story to help promote the importance of diversity in legal occupations such as lawyers and judges. “We know how important representation is, and that includes legal representation,” said Woodrow Keown, Jr., president and COO of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center.
Hamilton County Judge Nicole Sanders said she hadn’t heard of Allen prior to being reached for this story. A lawyer by trade, Sanders said she’s taken several Black and African American studies courses over the years, and Allen’s story was never told. That’s part of the reason why the Freedom Center wanted to host this exhibit.
”We were fortunate that Ken Parker, who has long been a friend of the Freedom Center, loaned us this document, which spurred us to tell the story of Mr. Allen,” Keown, Jr. said, president and COO of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center. “As we stand on the shoulders of the giant that is Mr. Macon B.
Sanders, who runs the Drug Court in the Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas, said she’s seen firsthand the importance of having a diverse and representational legal system during her 20-year career. Sanders has been an elected judge for just a little over a year, but served as a judicial officer as a magistrate for seven-and-a-half years.
“Ideally, your judicial officers and the attorneys represent a fair reflection of the community as a whole, diversity of color, but life experience, education, community experiences,” she added. She doesn’t mean just race, or color either. Sanders said she hopes her wearing a robe brings a mixture of “inspiration” and “confidence” into the community. She wants people to look at her on the bench and know anything is possible.
Jackson said it’s BLAC’s mission to bring equity to the legal profession.
Diversity in the legal system
Nationally, less than 3% of law partners are Black and only 3% of registered attorneys in the state of Ohio are Black. The data among leaders in law firms is even lower. Of the 242 total partners in Cincinnati, 4% are people of color and even fewer (1.65%) are women of color.
| Category | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Black Law Partners (Nationally) | Less than 3% |
| Black Attorneys in Ohio | 3% |
| People of Color Partners in Cincinnati | 4% |
| Women of Color Partners in Cincinnati | 1.65% |
Increasing diversity in the legal field has been a long battle. legal associates in 2020 were Black, and only 1.2% of law firm partners were Black. population. While equal representation in the legal field still has a long way to go, many barrier-breaking Black lawyers have paved the way for increased diversity in the profession as we continue to work toward true equity.
Other African American Legal Pioneers
Following Allen came trailblazer Charlotte E. in 1872. Charles Hamilton Houston spent his career fighting against Jim Crow throughout the South and successfully challenged segregation at the University of Maryland Law School. He was also the first Black editor of the Harvard Law Review and fought in multiple cases before the Supreme Court.
civil rights movement. As a young Black lawyer, Gray provided legal counsel during the Montgomery Bus Boycotts, defending Rosa Parks. He also worked closely with the NAACP and defended civil rights cases such as Gomillion v. Lightfoot and Dixon v.
In 1967, President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed Thurgood Marshall as the first African American Supreme Court Justice. Prior to his judicial service, he successfully argued Brown v.
In 1939, Jane Bolin became the first female African American judge in the country. Jane Bolin served 40 years fighting for families on the family court bench.
Other Notable African American Attorneys
- Charlotte E. Ray: The first black female lawyer in the United States. She opened a law office in the nation’s capital but was unable to obtain enough clients to sustain her practice.
- James Weldon Johnson: An early civil rights activist and a leader of the NAACP. After founding a newspaper called The Daily American, Johnson became the first African American attorney to pass the Bar in the state of Florida.
- Charles H. Houston: Served as the Harvard Law Review’s first African American editor, the vice dean of Howard University’s law school, and head of the NAACP’s legal fight against “separate but equal” schools.
- Thurgood Marshall: The first African American justice of the Supreme Court, serving from 1967-1991.
- Jane Bolin: The first African American female judge in the United States.
- Constance Motley: The first African American woman to be appointed as a federal judge.
- Fred Gray: Played a vital role in the successful desegregation of Montgomery buses.
For all its specifications about the provision of equality, the American legal system must be examined for the various instances in which it has failed to follow through on those promises to its African American citizens. While this blog only acknowledges a fraction of the African American attorneys whose trailblazing careers shaped the American legal system, gearing it towards bridging the gap between its inequitable promises of liberty and their actual application to all Americans, regardless of the color of their skin.
