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The Negro Lawyer In Maryland1
By A. B. KOGER
First things are usually interesting. The bride's first night, the baby's first tooth, the birth of the first grand child, are all proverbial. The first rough stone laid in a foundation may aid in the support of a gigantic monument, or beautiful cathedral. In this time of celebrating National Negro History Week, everyone is looking back to the beginning of great things and movements which now occupy public attention. Among these movements of interest to many of us here, is the coming of the Negro lawyer to the Maryland Bar.
It may surprise my younger listeners, when I tell them that the Negro lawyer has been at the Maryland Bar far less time than persons within other noted professions. The Negro teacher was not unknown during slavery. There were several schools for free Negroes that were operated and owned by Negro teachers. The Negro minister, within his own right, was quite a character for more than a century-and-a-half prior to emancipation. The physician and dentist emerged during Re-construction. Not so with the Negro lawyer.
The truth of the matter is, the Negro lawyer has been a member of the Maryland Bar for only a little more than sixty years. Sixty years! Less time than the life span of some of you here, I dare say, and yet, much has been achieved within that brief period of time! Let us consider the coming and accomplishments of the Negro lawyer in Mary-land.
Instinctively, seemingly, the Negro has regarded the Law of the land and the Courts that administer that law, as being the great bulwarks against the infringements upon his freedom. And, he has grown to believe that within the law as interpreted by the Supreme Courts and other Courts of last resorts, must his justice and equality, not only come, but be maintained.
The Negro has come to regard the Negro lawyer as the champion of his rights before these Courts and looks constantly to the Negro lawyer to lead him, as a sort of legal Moses, to the land of freedom and promise. Personally, I believe that the Negro lawyer accepts this challenge and very seriously regards the responsibility of leadership in this field. I believe that, so far, he has given a fine account of his stewartship. He has proved what may be accomplished when one places ideals above temporal values. The Negro lawyer has sought to bring to members of our group a fuller view of a finer and richer life.
1 This little treatise was delivered as an address during a recent Negro History Week program. Its publication was urged and arranged for by a number of friends. The Footnotes have since been added.
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