Black man railroad story7/6/2023 Hamilton County Judge Nicole Sanders said she hadn’t heard of Allen prior to being reached for this story. While his credentials are second-to-none and few can argue the historic nature of many of his professional feats, Allen is far from a household name today. Following the end of Reconstruction in 1877, Allen moved to Washington, D.C., where he worked for a firm called the Land and Improvement Association.Īllen passed away in 1894 as one of the most accomplished attorneys of his time, regardless of race. He was appointed a criminal court and probate judge in Charleston County in 18, defeating a white incumbent for the position. Following the Civil War, Allen moved to Charleston, S.C., to serve the legal needs of formerly enslaved people in the south. The Freedom Center said Allen struggled to find clients in predominantly white Portland, Maine, where much of the Black population was unable to afford representation.Īllen moved back to Boston to seek better job opportunities. He became the first practicing African American lawyer in Massachusetts (1845), the first Black man to become a justice of the peace (1848), and he helped found the first all-African American law firm with William Whipper and Robert Elliott in South Carolina (1868).ĭespite his historic accomplishment, Allen still faced many challenges. Allen persisted and ultimately prevailed, earning admittance to the state bar on July 3, 1844, becoming the first-known practicing African American lawyer in the country.īecoming an attorney was merely the first of Allen's trailblazing accomplishments. But Allen’s admission was initially denied based on the grounds he was “not a legal citizen” because he was African American. Samuel Fessenden, a local abolitionist and attorney.Īccording to the Freedom Center, Fessenden advocated for Allen’s admission to Maine’s bar. It was in Maine that Allen began studying law and worked as a legal apprentice to Gen. He later moved to Boston before settling in Portland, Maine in 1844. (Provided)Īllen was born in Indiana in 1816. The advertisement for the “Macon Bolling Allen: The First African American Lawyer in the United States” exhibit at the Freedom Center. Allen to inspire greater diversity and better representation in the courtroom even 180 years after he was first licensed to practice law.” “ In a criminal justice system that continues to be plagued by systemic biases, we need Mr. “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. Now through March 31, the museum in downtown Cincinnati is hosting the exhibit “ Macon Bolling Allen: The First African American Lawyer in the United States.” And to increase diversity in “a legal system still suffering from issues of systemic racism,” according to the Freedom Center. 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.
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