请输入您要查询的百科知识:

 

词条 Harold A. Stevens
释义

  1. Early life and education

  2. Service as a judge

  3. Other services

  4. Sources

  5. External links

{{Short description|American judge}}{{For|those of a similar name|Harold Stephens (disambiguation)}}

Harold Arnoldus Stevens (October 19, 1907 – November 9, 1990) was an African-American lawyer and former judge who served on the New York Court of General Sessions and New York Court of Appeals.

Early life and education

He was born on October 19, 1907, in Johns Island, South Carolina, the William F. Stevens and Lilla L. (Johnson) Stevens. His father died when he was three years old and Harold left Johns Island, and moved to Columbia, South Carolina with his mother and maternal grandparents, the Reverend and Mrs. C.H. Johnson. Later his mother remarried. Harold attended Claflin College High School and earned a Bachelor's Degree from Benedict College in 1930. He headed to Boston, after he was rejected from the then-segregated University of South Carolina Law School. In 1936 he was the first black American to get an LL.B. degree in labor law from Boston College.

In the 1940s he was a counsel to the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters and the Provisional Committee to Organize Colored Locomotive Firemen. He was a veteran of World War II. He was a member of the New York State Assembly (New York Co., 13th D.) from 1947 to 1950, sitting in the 166th and 167th New York State Legislatures.

Service as a judge

In 1950, he was elected to the New York Court of General Sessions. In 1955, he was appointed by Governor W. Averell Harriman to the New York Supreme Court to fill a vacancy. In November 1955, he was elected to a fourteen-year term. He sat on the Appellate Division (1st Dept.) from 1958 on, and was Presiding Justice from 1969 on.

In January 1974, Governor Malcolm Wilson appointed him to the New York Court of Appeals to fill the vacancy caused by the election of Charles D. Breitel as Chief Judge. This gave him the highest rank of any black American in a state judicial system; he was the first African American to hold a seat on the Court of Appeals. In 1974, he ran on the Republican, Conservative and Liberal tickets for a full term, but was defeated by Democrat Jacob D. Fuchsberg. In 1975, he resumed his post as Presiding Justice of the Appellate Division (1st Dept.), and retired from the bench in 1977.

He died on November 9, 1990, at his home in Harlem, New York City.

Other services

Judge Stevens served as a trustee or board member for many organizations, including St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York Medical College, New York University Law Center Foundation, the Council for Religious and International Affairs, and the National Center for State Courts. He served as a Special Council of Religious and International Affairs, and the National Center for State Courts. He served as a Special Counsel to President Roosevelt's Commission on Fair Employment Practices.

Harold Stevens received numerous awards and honorary degrees of national and international dimension, including the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice award from Pope Pius XII, in recognition of outstanding Catholic service.

Sources

  • [https://books.google.com/books?id=6MbmkgJp9okC&pg=PA29 The History of the New York Court of Appeals, 1932-2003] by Bernard S. Meyer, Burton C. Agata & Seth H. Agata (pages 29f)
  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20120220192444/http://www.courts.state.ny.us/history/elecbook/thereshallbe/pg104.htm] Court of Appeals judges
  • Justices of the Court (Historical): Harold A. Stevens
  • [https://www.nytimes.com/1990/11/11/obituaries/judge-harold-stevens-83-dies-first-black-on-court-of-appeals.html Judge Harold Stevens, 83, Dies; First Black on Court of Appeals] in NYT on November 11, 1990

External links

  • [https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/41037318/ "Cites Catholic Stand Vs. Racial Desegregation" (The New York Age, April 16, 1955)]
{{s-start}}{{s-par|us-ny-hs}}{{succession box | title = New York State Assembly
New York County, 13th District | before = Daniel Flynn | years = 1947–1950 | after = Orest V. Maresca}}{{s-end}}{{Authority control}}{{DEFAULTSORT:Stevens, Harold A.}}

12 : Members of the New York State Assembly|New York Court of Appeals judges|1907 births|1990 deaths|Benedict College alumni|African-American judges|University of South Carolina alumni|New York Supreme Court Justices|Recipients of the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice|People from Harlem|People from Johns Island, South Carolina|20th-century American judges

随便看

 

开放百科全书收录14589846条英语、德语、日语等多语种百科知识,基本涵盖了大多数领域的百科知识,是一部内容自由、开放的电子版国际百科全书。

 

Copyright © 2023 OENC.NET All Rights Reserved
京ICP备2021023879号 更新时间:2024/11/14 0:05:06