Raymond pace alexander biography of donald

InEbony magazine cited him as one of the most influential Blacks in the United States. Inthe University of Pennsylvania endowed the Raymond Pace and Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander Professorship, devoted to the study of civil rights and race relations, in honor of both Raymond and his wife Sadie. Login to see how you relate to 33 million family members.

Raymond Pace Alexander - Judge Raymond Pace Alexander. Profile last modified 20 Mar Created 6 Feb Is Raymond your ancestor? Alexander quickly earned a reputation as a talented and accomplished trial lawyer and worked through the legal system to overcome racism. Although he is credited with ending discrimination in many Philadelphia hotels and restaurants, two of his most famous early successes were the Berwyn Schools and the Aldine Theater desegregation cases; the latter ended discrimination in Philadelphia movie theaters.

In his law practice had become so profitable that he was able to buy land and construct a building to house his law firm in the heart of the almost exclusively white Center City of Philadelphia. Alexander served two years as president of the largely African-American National Bar Association — and was a cofounder of the National Bar Journal He gained national recognition in when he replaced Thurgood Marshall as one of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People NAACP counsels in the Trenton Six trial, defending two of the six black men wrongly accused of murdering a white shop owner and his wife in Trenton, New Jersey.

Alexander also prosecuted the Girard College desegregation case on behalf of the city of Philadelphia from to Although the desegregation ruling Alexander obtained was confirmed by the U. Supreme Court, it was rendered moot by a technical decision of the Philadelphia Orphans Court. Alexander also had a career in politics. In the s he made many attempts to secure a local judgeship but was thwarted by the racism of the local political parties.

During the s he sought various types of appointments at the federal level, but the appointment of William H. Hastie to the U. Circuit Court of Appeals effectively closed the doors to a similar appointment for Alexander. He was named honorary consul to the republic of Haiti in and in was nominated by President Truman but not confirmed for the ambassadorship to Ethiopia.

Alexander made a successful foray into elective politics inwhen he was elected to the city council as a member of the Democratic reform platform, a position to which he was reelected in He entered semiretirement as a presiding judge of the Common Pleas Court in and died of a heart attack while working late in his office in Cite this article Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

January 8, A native Philadelphian, Raymond Pace Alexander was born in into a large working-class family. His mother died shortly after the birth of his youngest sibling, and Raymond was self-supporting from the age of twelve. He entered the University of Pennsylvania in the fall of He was admitted to the Pennsylvania Bar and entered practice in Augustspecializing in criminal law.

He began his career in the office of John R. He continued to work for racial equality throughout his time in the municipal government. Alexander assumed senior status at mandatory retirement age in and died in His legacy is honored by a professorship at the University of Pennsylvania. Alexander was born into a working-class black family in Philadelphia, Pennsylvaniaon October 13, Hillard and Virginia married in Philadelphia in The family, like most of the city's black population, lived in the Seventh Ward in what is called Center City today.

Du Bois called the area in which the Alexanders lived the "fair and comfortable" part of the neighborhood. InAlexander's mother died of pneumonia.

Raymond pace alexander biography of donald: BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE. A native Philadelphian, he

Jobs he held during those years included working on the docks unloading fish, selling newspapers, and owning a bootblack stand where he worked six days per week. Alexander attended Central High School and graduated indelivering a speech "The Future of the American Negro", at the commencement ceremony. McLendon Jr. Alexander graduated from Harvard Law in That same year, he married his former Penn classmate Sadie Tanner Mossell.

Mossell was the granddaughter of Benjamin Tucker Tanner and in became the first black woman to earn a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania. Scotta white Republican former congressman with a small office in the city. He soon rose to prominence in Philadelphia's black community. Inhe represented Louise Thomas, a black woman accused of murdering a black policeman.

After she was convicted and sentenced to deathAlexander secured her a new trial. Canton, described as "a landmark in Pennsylvania legal history". He lost the case, but it nonetheless raised his profile as a black lawyer willing to fight for equal rights. Through the NBA, Alexander began to use political protest as well as legal action in the struggle for equal rights.

Raymond pace alexander biography of donald: Born in Philadelphia, Raymond

Hubbardrelocated to a new building at 19th and Chestnut Streets. InAlexander became involved with the Berwyn School Fight to desegregate the schools in Berwyn, Pennsylvaniaa suburb of Philadelphia. After Easttown Township built a new elementary school, neighboring Tredyffrin Township closed its school and paid to send its students to Easttown the Berwyn region included parts of both townships.

With the assistance of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People NAACPAlexander negotiated with the school board, attempting to end the boycott, but the stalemate continued into Schnaderordered the black parents prosecuted for refusing to send their children to school. Alexander approved of the strategy, while the NAACP thought it too confrontational; they also objected to Alexander's acceptance of help from International Labor Defense lawyers, fearing association with the far-left group.

As the boycott dragged on intogroups organized protest marches in Philadelphia. Schnader, now running for governor, promised to find a solution. It was introduced by state representative Hobson R. Reynoldsa black Republican from Philadelphia. Alexander rose to national prominence in the black legal community after the Berwyn case, and he began to speak around the country at NBA events, serving as the organization's president from to InAlexander became involved with the case of the Trenton Sixa group of black men arrested in Trenton, New Jersey, accused of robbery and murder.

In the re-trial, Alexander established that the police had manufactured evidence in order to secure a quick conviction and quiet public concerns about the crime wave then rippling through Trenton. The judge also ruled out the confessions, which were proved to have been coerced.

Raymond pace alexander biography of donald: Raymond Pace Alexander was born on

By the s, Alexander's civil rights activity led him to become involved in local politics. At that time, Republicans dominated Philadelphia's political scene, and Alexander ran for a seat on the Court of Common Pleas as a Republican inbut withdrew before the election, a decision the Philadelphia Tribune reported was due to ill health. Nonetheless, he saw the Republicans as the best chance for African American advancement in the city and lobbied the party leaders to nominate a black lawyer—preferably him—for one of the judicial seats up for election in MilnerClare G.

Fenertyand John Robert Jones. After the election, Alexander joined many black Americans of the era in shifting his allegiance to the Democratic Party.