List of first minority male lawyers and judges in Illinois
Appearance
This is a list of the first minority male lawyer(s) and judge(s) in Illinois. 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 obtain a law degree or become a political figure.
Firsts in state history
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bb/Judge_Ruben_Castillo.jpg/184px-Judge_Ruben_Castillo.jpg)
Lawyers
- Lloyd Garrison Wheeler (1869):[1][2] First African American male admitted to the Illinois State Bar. However, he relocated soon after to Arkansas.
- Antonio Rosas Sarabia (1950):[3] First Mexican American male lawyer in Illinois
- Theodore "Ted" Burtzos:[4] First deaf male lawyer to argue a case before a jury in Illinois
Judicial Officers
State
Judges
- Albert B. George:[5][6] First African American male judge in Illinois (1924)
- David Cerda:[7] First Latino American male judge in Illinois (1965)
- Thomas R. Chiola (1974):[8] First openly LGBT male judge in Illinois (1994)
- Theodore "Ted" Burtzos:[4] First deaf male judge in Illinois (1995)
- Kenneth Moy:[9][10] First Asian American male judge in Illinois (1996)
- Israel Desierto:[11] First Filipino American male judge in Illinois (2005)
Superior Court
- Albert B. George:[5][6] First African American male to serve as a Judge of the Superior Court in Illinois (1924)
District Court
- F. Keith Brown (1981):[12][13] First African American male judge and Chief Judge in the Sixteenth Judicial District (Kane County, Illinois; 1991)
Appellate Court
- George N. Leighton (1947):[14] First African American male appointed as a Judge of the First District Appellate Court in Illinois (1969)
- David Cerda:[15][16] First Hispanic American male appointed as a Judge of the Illinois Appellate Court (1989)
- Jesse Reyes (1982):[17][18] First Latino American male elected as a Judge of the Illinois Appellate Court (2012)
Supreme Court
- Charles E. Freeman (1962):[19][20][21] First African American male appointed as a Justice of the Illinois Supreme Court (1990) and serve as its Chief Justice
Federal
District
- James Benton Parsons (1949):[22][23] First African American male appointed as a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (1961)
- Alexander J. Napoli:[24] First Italian American male appointed as a Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (1966)
- Joe Billy McDade (1963):[25] First African American male appointed as a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois (1991)
- Samuel Der-Yeghiayan (1978):[26] First Armenian immigrant male appointed as a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (2003)
- Ruben Castillo (1979):[27] First Latino American male appointed as a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (1994). He is also the first Latino American male judge to serve on the Federal Sentencing Commission.
- Manuel Barbosa:[28] First Hispanic American male bankruptcy judge to serve in the U.S. Northern District of Illinois (1998)
- John Z. Lee (1992):[29] First Korean American male appointed as a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (2012)
- Manish S. Shah (1998):[30] First Indian American male appointed as a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (2014)
Attorney General
- Roland Burris (1963):[31] First African American male elected as the Attorney General of Illinois (1991-1995)
Assistant Attorney General
- James G. Gotter:[32] First African American male to serve as the Assistant Attorney General of Illinois (1917)
State's Attorney
- James R. Burgess, Jr.:[33][34] First African American male to serve as the State's Attorney in Illinois (1972)
Assistant State's Attorney
- Ferdinand Lee Barnett:[35] First African American male to serve as an Assistant State's Attorney in Illinois (1896)
Bar Association
- Vincent Cornelius:[36] First African American male to serve as the Illinois State Bar Association (2016)
Firsts in local history
Alphabetized by county name
Boone County
- K. Patrick Yarbrough:[37] First African American male judge in Boone and Winnebago Counties, Illinois (2008)
Champaign County
- Joe Somers:[38] First African American male to serve as the Justice of the Peace in Champaign County, Illinois (1961)
- James R. Burgess, Jr.:[33][34] First African American male to serve as the State's Attorney of Champaign County, Illinois (1972)
Cook County
- Richard A. Dawson (1870):[39] First African American male to graduate from the University of Chicago's law department
- Cecil A. Partee:[40] First African American male to serve as the State's Attorney of Cook County, Illinois
- James Benton Parsons (1949):[22][23] First African American male to serve as a Judge of the Superior Court of Cook County, Illinois (1959)
- Israel Desierto:[11] First Filipino American male to serve as an Associate Judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois (2005)
- Sanjay Tailor:[41] First Indian American male appointed as an Associate Judge in Cook County, Illinois
- Chester Blair:[42] First African American male to serve as the President of the Chicago Bar Association [Cook and DuPage Counties, Illinois]
DuPage County
- Chester Blair:[42] First African American male to serve as the President of the Chicago Bar Association [Cook and DuPage Counties, Illinois]
- Kenneth Moy:[9][10] First Asian American male appointed as Judge of the DuPage County Circuit Court (1996)
Kane County
- Charles Willner (1876):[43] First Jewish male lawyer in Burlington, Illinois [Kane County, Illinois]
- F. Keith Brown (1981):[12][13] First African American male judge and Chief Judge in the Sixteenth Judicial District (Kane County, Illinois; 1991)
- John Dalton:[44] First openly LGBT male judge in Kane County, Illinois (2012)
- Rene Cruz:[45] First Hispanic American male to serve as an associate judge in Kane County, Illinois (2012)
Lake County
- George Bridges (1987):[46][47] First African American male judge in Lake County, Illinois
- Jorge L. Ortiz (1989):[48] First Hispanic American male judge in Lake County, Illinois (2002) and first Chief Judge (2016)
Madison County
- Clayton R. Williams (c. 1940s):[49] First African American male lawyer in Madison County, Illinois. He would later become a judge.
McHenry County
- Mario J. Perez:[50] First Latino American male lawyer in McHenry County, Illinois
- Carlos S. Arevalo:[51] First Hispanic American to serve as the President of the McHenry County Bar Association, Illinois (2014)
Sangamon County
- Abraham Morris Williams:[52] First African American male lawyer in Sangamon County, Illinois
Will County
Winnebago County
- K. Patrick Yarbrough:[37] First African American male judge in Boone and Winnebago Counties, Illinois (2008)
See also
Other topics of interest
- List of first women lawyers and judges in the United States
- List of first women lawyers and judges in Illinois
References
- ^ "CENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY OF ADMISSION OF THE FIRST BLACK LAWYER TO THE ILLINOIS BAR" (PDF). September 23, 1969.
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: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Lloyd Garrison Wheeler (1848–1909)". Encyclopedia of Arkansas. Retrieved 2020-03-02.
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: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Antonio Rosas Sarabia". tribunedigital-chicagotribune. Retrieved 2018-02-16.
- ^ a b Clawson, Pat. "DEAF LAWYER NAMED NEW CIRCUIT JUDGE". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 2018-12-07.
- ^ a b "Generations of Pride: African American Timeline". www2.illinois.gov. Retrieved 2018-01-11.
- ^ a b "Centennial Milestones". Cook County Bar Association. Retrieved 2018-01-11.
- ^ Schmich, Mary. "No longer lonely on the bench, Latino judges in Illinois form an association". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 2019-10-07.
- ^ Flitsch, Byron (January 6, 2010). "History-making gay judge set to retire". Windy City Times. Retrieved 2018-01-15.
- ^ a b "Former colleagues vie for 2nd District appellate seat -- Daily Herald". prev.dailyherald.com. Retrieved 2020-03-09.
- ^ a b Writer, Lynn Van Matre, Tribune Staff. "MOY GETS A HEAD START ON CIRCUIT COURT JUDGESHIP". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 2020-03-09.
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: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ a b "Asian American Compass: A Guide to Navigating the Community" (PDF). Asian American Institute. 2011.
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- ^ a b "Judge Brown to leave the bench after 23 years". Retrieved 2018-01-12.
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- ^ "Appellate Court Gets 1st Hispanic". tribunedigital-chicagotribune. Retrieved 2018-01-12.
- ^ "Illinois Supreme Court Assigns Hispanic Judge to Appellate Court" (PDF). March 10, 2003.
- ^ "Gazette Chicago » First Latino Appellate Judge Reyes sworn in". www.gazettechicago.com. Retrieved 2018-01-13.
- ^ "Judge Jesse Reyes (JD '82) Sworn in as First Latino Illinois Appellate Court Judge | JMLS News and Publications". news.jmls.edu. Retrieved 2018-01-13.
- ^ Kenney, David; Brown, Barbara L. (1993). Basic Illinois Government: A Systematic Explanation. SIU Press. ISBN 9780809318223.
- ^ Company, Johnson Publishing (1991-02-04). Roland Burris Sworn in as Illinois' First Black Attorney General. Johnson Publishing Company.
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has generic name (help) - ^ "JUSTICE CHARLES E. FREEMAN ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT AFTER LONG AND DISTINGUISHED CAREER" (PDF). Supreme Court of Illinois. May 17, 2018.
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- ^ a b Smith, Jessie Carney (2012-12-01). Black Firsts: 4,000 Ground-Breaking and Pioneering Historical Events. Visible Ink Press. ISBN 9781578594252.
- ^ Congress, United States (1967). Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates of the ... Congress. U.S. Government Printing Office.
- ^ "Bradley University: U.S. Judge Tells Graduates to Keep Building". Retrieved 2018-01-19.
- ^ "1st US federal judge of Armenian descent retiring". Public Radio of Armenia. 2017-12-19. Retrieved 2018-12-17.
- ^ "Ruben Castillo - First Hispanic Judge to serve on the Federal Sentencing Commission" (PDF).
- ^ Ferrarin, Elena (2012-12-29). "Pioneer Hispanic federal judge from Elgin retires". Daily Herald. Retrieved 2019-01-25.
- ^ Thies, Daniel (December 2012). "Northern District welcomes Judge John Z. Lee" (PDF). Federal Civil Practice. 11:2.
- ^ "CAPAC Applauds Confirmation of Manish S. Shah to U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois". Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC). Retrieved 2018-01-19.
- ^ "Burris, Roland (1937- ) | The Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed". blackpast.org. Retrieved 2018-12-13.
- ^ Smith, John Clay (1993). Emancipation: The Making of the Black Lawyer, 1844-1944. University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 9780812231816.
- ^ a b "Steve Burgess recalls his father, James R. Burgess Jr". Illinois Public Media. 2013-11-21. Retrieved 2020-03-12.
- ^ a b "James R. Burgess, Jr". www.museumofthegrandprairie.org. Retrieved 2020-03-12.
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: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Aiello, Thomas (2016-05-23). The Battle for the Souls of Black Folk: W.E.B. Du Bois, Booker T. Washington, and the Debate That Shaped the Course of Civil Rights: W.E.B. Du Bois, Booker T. Washington, and the Debate That Shaped the Course of Civil Rights. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-4408-4358-7.
- ^ Baran–Unl, Denise M.; Dunl, -. "Joliet attorney installed as 140th president of the Illinois State Bar Association". www.theherald-news.com. Retrieved 2019-01-05.
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has numeric name (help) - ^ a b "Prosecutor Makes History as County's First Black Judge". Retrieved 2018-01-13.
- ^ "Tom's Mailbag, Aug. 21, 2015". www.news-gazette.com. Retrieved 2019-01-17.
- ^ "Centennial Milestones | Cook County Bar Association". cookcountybar.org. Retrieved 2020-03-02.
- ^ "Cecil A. Partee papers". www.lib.uchicago.edu. Retrieved 2020-03-12.
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: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Sanjay Tailor appointed Associate Judge in Cook County". www.nriinternet.com. Retrieved 2019-01-16.
- ^ a b Kates, Joan Giangrasse. "Chester Blair, Chicago attorney and bar president, dies at 86". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 2019-01-04.
- ^ FLEISHAKER, OSCAR (June 1957). "THE ILLINOIS - IOWA JEWISH COMMUNITY ON THE BANKS OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER".
- ^ "Kane judicial system changes to better reflect diversity within county | Illinois State Bar Association". www.isba.org. Retrieved 2018-01-12.
- ^ Hitzeman, Harry. "Another Kane first: Latina attorney selected by peers as new judge". Daily Herald. Retrieved 2018-01-12.
- ^ Newton, Jim. "Veteran Lake County judges announce plans to retire". Lake County News-Sun. Retrieved 2018-01-12.
- ^ Newton, Jim. "First black judge's retirement leaves further diversity gap in Lake County". Lake County News-Sun. Retrieved 2018-01-12.
- ^ staff, News-Sun. "Lake County's first Hispanic judge elected chief of the court". Lake County News-Sun. Retrieved 2018-01-12.
- ^ Schmidt, Sanford J. (May 19, 2017). "Madison county's first black lawyer, judge dies at 95". The Telegraph. Alton Illinois. Retrieved 2017-10-31.
- ^ "Mario J. Perez - The Woodstock Independent". The Woodstock Independent. 2012-11-06. Retrieved 2017-09-24.
- ^ Silverstein, Jack (July 14, 2014). "A fast learner and riser" (PDF). Chicago Daily Law Bulletin.
- ^ "Abraham Morris Williams". www.sangamoncountycircuitclerk.org. Retrieved 2018-02-13.
- ^ Fabbre, Alicia (September 11, 2013). "Will County's first Latino judge appointed to bench". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 2019-01-11.
- ^ Planas, Roque (2013-09-05). "First Latino Judge In Will County Fulfills Childhood Dream After Returning To School". Huffington Post. Retrieved 2018-01-13.