COURTROOM 231
Ronald X. Roberson (c.1953-)
Oil on canvas, 1985
34 ½ H x 28 W in.
Presented, April 18, 1885
Donor, Bar Assoc. of Baltimore City; Monumental Bar Assoc.
Owner, Baltimore City
Private Career:
Teacher, Public Schools of Springfield and Columbus, Ohio, 1878
Principal schools of Columbus, 1878-1882
U.S. Department of the Interior, Examiner of Pensions, 1882
Admitted to the bar, 1885
Comments:
First African-American lawyer admitted to Maryland Bar of the Supreme Bench in Baltimore City, October 10, 1885. Admitted to the Maryland State Court of Appeals, April 17, 1888. Counsel for Henry Jones, one of eighteen black men charged with murder in the Navassa Island riots of 1889. The case was argued before the Circuit Court of the United States for the District of Maryland and the Supreme Court of the United States. Established the Lexington Savings Bank, which was the first financial institution in Maryland founded and managed by African Americans.
Historical & Biographical Series at the Maryland State Archives