The jurisdictions included in Region IX are: Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Washington & Guam. Region IX represents all Black lawyers, all Black judges, and all Black bar associations in the region on the Board of the National Bar Association. This page will provide valuable information regarding the Black legal community within Region IX, nationally, and inte
rnationally. For more information, please contact Region IX Director, Terrance J. Evans at [email protected]
The National Bar Association was founded when segregation and discrimination based on race were permissible under the law, including the “separate but equal” jurisprudence of Plessy v. There was no effective organization of lawyers promoting equal justice under the law and protecting Black Americans’ human and civil rights. Because Black lawyers were excluded from membership in the American Bar Association (“ABA”) and most local majority bar associations across the country, 12 black lawyers met in Des Moines, Iowa, on August 1, 1925, to spearhead the establishment of a national network of black lawyers committed to the pursuit of equal justice under law. They founded the National Bar Association. These 12 NBA founders were George H. Woodson, S. Joe Brown, Gertrude E. Rush, James B. Morris, Charles P. Howard, Sr., Wendell E. Green, C. Francis Stradford, Jesse N. Baker, William H. Haynes, George C. Adams, Charles H. Calloway, and L. Amasa Knox. The purpose of the NBA, as stated in its articles of incorporation, was to “advance the science of jurisprudence, uphold the honor of the legal profession, promote social intercourse among the members of the American Bar, and protect the civil and political rights of all citizens of the several states and the United States.”
Black lawyers affiliated with the NBA became the legal voices and advocates for Black people in the courts and other forums. Leaders and members of the NBA took this nation from the Jim Crow jurisprudence of Plessy v. Ferguson to landmark cases such as Chambers v Florida (1940) (criminal justice), Smith v. Allwright (1944) (voting), Morgan v. Virginia (1946) (transportation), Shelley v. Kraemer (1948) (housing), Sweatt v. Painter (1950) (college admissions), Brown v. Board of Education (1954) (public schools), and Gomillion v. Lightfoot (1960) (racial gerrymandering). The work of the National Bar Association and its members provided the underpinnings for major civil rights legislation, such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Fair Housing Act of 1968. Today, the National Bar Association is the nation’s oldest and largest national association of predominantly African-American lawyers, judges, law professors, and law students, with a network of over 67,000. The NBA has over 80 chapters throughout the United States and has affiliations with lawyer organizations in Canada, the United Kingdom, Africa, Morocco, and the Caribbean. Courtesy of: Robert L. Bell, Life Member and Chair
NBA Centennial History Committee
