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List of first minority male lawyers and judges in North Carolina

This is a list of the first minority male lawyer(s) and judge(s) in North Carolina. It includes the year in which the men were admitted to practice law (in parentheses). Also included are other distinctions such as the first minority men in their state to graduate from law school or become a political figure.

Firsts in North Carolina's history

Lawyers

First African American: George Lawrence Mabson (1871)
First Native American male: Horace Locklear (1972)
First Hispanic American male (U.S. Army, North Carolina): Jhonathan Morales Nájera (c. 2016)

State judges

First Jewish American male: Sol Bernard Weinstein in 1942
First Native American males (both from the Lumbee tribe): Early Bullard and Lacy Maynor in 1954 and 1958 respectively
First Hispanic American male (magistrate): Gaspar R. Gonzalez, Sr.
First African American male: Sammie Chess Jr. in 1971
First African American male (Resident Superior Court): Clifton Johnson in 1977
First African American male (North Carolina Court of Appeals): Clifton Johnson in 1982
First African American male (North Carolina Supreme Court): Henry Frye in 1983
First African American male (Senior Resident; Superior Court): Cy A. Grant Sr. in 1988
First Native American (Lumbee) male (superior court): Sandy Dexter Brooks (1976) in 1989
First openly gay male: Ray Warren around 1998
First African American male (North Carolina Supreme Court; Chief Justice): Henry Frye in 1999
First Native American (Cherokee) male: Brad Letts in 2000
First Hispanic American male: Albert Diaz (1988) in 2001
First Sri Lankan American male (district court): Roy Wijewickrama in 2010
First Latino American male (elected): Lou Olivera in 2012
First openly gay male (elected): John S. Arrowood in 2017
First Jewish American (North Carolina Supreme Court): Mark A. Davis in 2019
First Yemeni American male: Rashad Hauter in 2021

Federal judges

First African American male (federal district court): Richard Erwin in 1980
First Hispanic American male (U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit): Albert Diaz (1988) in 2010

Attorney General of North Carolina

First Jewish American male: Josh Stein in 2016

Assistant Attorney General

First African American male: Walter E. Ricks III in 1973

United States Attorney

First African American male: Mickey Michaux (1964) in 1977

Assistant United States Attorneys

First African American male: Henry Frye in 1963
First Asian American male: Zeppelin Wong in 1963

District Attorney

First African American male: Carl Fox in 1984
First Native American male: Matt Scott in 2019

Assistant District Attorney

First African American male: Walter Johnson, Jr. during the 1960s

North Carolina Bar Association

First African American male president: Cressie H. Thigpen, Jr. in 2005

Firsts in local history

Carl Fox: First African American male to serve as a District Attorney for Chatham and Orange Counties, North Carolina (1984)
Walter Whitted Hoover: First African American male to serve as a Justice of the Peace in High Point, North Carolina [Davidson, Forsyth, Guilford and Randolph Counties, North Carolina]
Randolph Baskerville: First African American to serve as an Assistant District Attorney for the 9th Judicial Circuit in North Carolina [Franklin, Granville and Vance Counties, North Carolina]
Moses Burt Jr. (c. 1959): First African American male lawyer in Alamance County, North Carolina
Larry Brown Jr.: First African American male judge in Alamance County, North Carolina (2017)
Arthur Watford, Jr.: First African American male magistrate in Bertie County, North Carolina
Charlie G. Gore: First African American male magistrate in Bladen County, North Carolina
Robert L. Harrell: First African American male judge in Buncombe County, North Carolina (1983)
Jason R. Parker: First African American male lawyer in Catawba County, as well as the first African American male to serve as the Assistant District Attorney for the 25th Prosecutorial District [Cabarrus and Catawba Counties, North Carolina]. He was also the first African American male Assistant District Attorney for the 22nd Prosecutorial District (Alexander and Iredell Counties, North Carolina).
John S. Leary (1892): First African American male lawyer in Fayetteville, North Carolina [Cumberland County, North Carolina]
R. McCants Andrews (1921): First African American male lawyer in Durham, North Carolina [Durham County, North Carolina]
Albert L. Turner: First African American male to serve as the Dean of the North Carolina Central University School of Law (1942)
Lowell Siler: First African American male to serve as the County Attorney of Durham County, North Carolina (2009)
George Henry Mitchell (1900): First African American male lawyer in Greensboro, North Carolina [Guilford County, North Carolina]
Bill Marshall: First African American male magistrate in High Point, Guilford County, North Carolina
Ronnie Conner: First African American male magistrate in Iredell County, North Carolina
John S. Leary (1892): First African American male lawyer in Charlotte, North Carolina [Mecklenburg County, North Carolina]
Clifton Johnson: First African American male to serve as a District Court Judge in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina (1969)
Spencer Merriweather: First African American male to serve as the District Attorney of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina (2019)
Carl Fox: First African American male to serve as a District Attorney for Chatham and Orange Counties, North Carolina (1984)
Mario Perez: First Hispanic American male judge in Pitt County, North Carolina (2018)
Herbert Richardson, Sr.: First African American male to serve as the Assistant District Attorney (1978) and judge (1979) for Robeson County, North Carolina
Charles Wesley Williamson (1932): First African American male lawyer in Henderson, North Carolina [Vance County, North Carolina]
Albert L. Turner: First African American male to serve as the Dean of the North Carolina Central University School of Law (1942)
George Greene: First African American male judge in Wake County, North Carolina
Nereus Deleon Smith: First African American male lawyer in Goldsboro, North Carolina [Wayne County, North Carolina]