COURTROOM 215
Simmie Knox (1936- )
Oil on canvas, 1996
52 H x 65 W in.
Presented, October 24, 1996
Commissioned by The Baltimore Courthouse and Law Museum Foundation, Inc.
Owner, Baltimore City Circuit Court
Private Career:
Taught in the Baltimore City Public Schools, 1930’s
Co-founded the Baltimore Citywide Young People's Forum, 1931
Admitted to the bar, 1950
Counsel for the NAACP, 1950-
Inducted into the Maryland’s Women’s Hall of Fame, 1987
Public Service:
Member the 1967-1968 Constitutional Convention of Maryland
Comments:
First African American woman to not only attend the University of Maryland School of Law, but also to be admitted to the Maryland bar. In 1958, she directed the NAACP's "Register to Vote" campaign which resulted in over 20,000 new registrations. Credited with filing the suits that made Maryland the first southern state to desegregate its school system after the 1954 Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education. Named one of the pre-eminent Baltimore lawyers and judges of the 20th century.
Historical & Biographical Series at the Maryland State Archives