The number of black lawyers grew slowly in the beginning of the twentieth century. George
F. McMechen graduated from Yale Law School and was admitted to the bar in 1904. He
established an office with Ashbie Hawkins.81 Gradually the established lawyers had some
success. In 1920, Hawkins and McMechen joined with William McCard and Clarke Smith to
purchase a building on 14 Pleasant Street which they named the Banneker Law Building, renting
space to other black lawyers. According to a contemporary, "This is the first and only instance in
the United States where four colored lawyers own and occupy their own office building."82
Nevertheless, rewards from practice were still meager. Almost half the lawyers listed in
Coleman's directory of colored professionals in 1920-21 (W.Norman Bishop, J. Stewart Davis,
William L. Fitzgerald, Cornelius C. Fitzgerald, Clarke Smith and William McCard) were listed
under real estate and insurance as well as law. Yale graduate Bishop even noted that he was a
licensed embalmer.83

Carter Woodson in 1934 discussed the problems of black lawyers of this early era.
"There is a very decided and general feeling among Negro lawyers, especially in the border states
such as Maryland and the District of Columbia, that certain judges will not give a Negro lawyer
an impartial hearing where opposing counsel is white."84 Further, black lawyers had very few
clients in commercial matters and were confined "chiefly to criminal law, then domestic
relations, personal injuries, small claims and matters growing out of the conduct and
management of churches and fraternal organizations."85

C.        The Franchise

In 1895 a split in national politics between President Cleveland and Maryland Senator
Arthur Pue German divided the democratic party within the state. Republicans took advantage
of the division to win the statewide elections.86 Despite the heavy reliance on black voters, the
Republican party in power did little for its supporters. The party relapsed into factionalism.
Even the black community divided in a bitter rivalry between supporters of Booker T.
Washington and militants who eventually found leadership in W.E.B. DuBois. Divided on every
level, the Republican party went down to defeat in elections in which appeals to racial purity
played an important role.87

When the Democratic Party regained control of the state, it began a decade long program
to disenfranchise black voters. Blacks provided a substantial measure of support for the
Republican Party. In 1901 a new election law passed prohibiting the use of symbols for political
parties, prohibiting the grouping of candidates by political parties, and prohibiting assistance in
voting except to physically handicapped individuals. One aim of the law was to prevent illiterate
persons [disproportionately black under the existing educational system] from voting. The tactic
backfired, for Republicans opened schools in every precinct to instruct voters in recognizing the
word "Republican" on the ballot. Black supporters of the Republican Party flocked to the
schools and were able to continue to vote, but illiterate white supporters of the Democratic Party
did not leam how to support their party and effectively lost the vote.88

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