"Robert Herberton Terrell" (1857-1925)

The first African American judge in Washington D.C., was born in Charlottesville,Virginia on November 27,1857,to Harris and Louisa Ann Terrell.The Terrell's,an upper-middle class

American family,sent their son to public schools in the District of Columbia and then to Groton,in Groton Massachusetts.In 1884,he graduated cum laude from Harvard University.Five years later he graduated from Howard University Law School with an LL.B.In 1893 he attained LL.M from Howard.Because of the difficulty in getting a job as a black attorney in Washington,D.C.,Robert taught in the District's public schools.He taken worked as chief clerk in the office of the auditor of the U.S.Treasury.He met Mary Church when she accepted a teaching post at the preparatory School for Colored Youth in Washington,D.C.,where he was principal.They married in October 1891 and had two daughters.Mary the daughter of Robert Reed Church,a prominent Republican politician and businessmen in Memphis,would soon be noted in her own right as a civil leader and instrumental in the organization of the Colored Women's League of Washington.She was also and early president of the National Association for Colored Women.From 1892 to 1898,Robert practiced law in Washington,D.C. but returned to teaching and became principal of M Street High School in Washington,D.C. Robert a staunch Republican,allied himself with Booker T. Washington in the first decade of the 20th century and through the latter's influence with President William Howard Taft he was nominated by the President to serve on the District of Columbia Municipal Court.Despite bitter opposition to his appointment from Southern Democratic Senators,Robert on January 15,1910 became the first African American judge in the nation's capital.He served as judge until his death in 1925.While serving as municipal judge,he was also on the faculty of the Howard University Law School.In February 1911 he was a character member of the first Washington,D.C.chapter of Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity (the Boule),the oldest fraternity the oldest black fraternity in the nation.He suffered a stroke in 1921.A year later,he suffered another stroke leaving him paralyzed.He died in Washington,D.C. in December.