J. LeRoy Baxter

James LeRoy Baxter (June 13, 1881 – December 9, 1954) was a dentist / oral surgeon and state legislator in New Jersey. He was elected to represent Essex County, New Jersey in the New Jersey General Assembly in 1928.^[1]^[2]

Born in Newark, New Jersey on June 13, 1881, he graduated from Barringer High School.^[3] He was the son of James Miller Baxter who served as principal of the Newark's "Colored" school for 45 years.^[4]^[5]^[6]

He was elected as a Republican Party as one of 12 representatives from Essex County, in a General Assembly that had 60 members.^[7] While in the Assembly, he was the only Black member and worked with the NAACP and others to oppose a bill that had been introduced by a legislator^[who?] in Monmouth County to ban marriage between partners of different "races".^[8]

He married Ernest Mae McCarroll, a doctor from Alabama, in 1929. She moved to Newark.^[9]

In the runup to the 1932 United States presidential election, he spoke at a rally as a former Republican Assemblyman and told a crowd of 250 Black Democrats in Red Bank that the historic overwhelming Black support of Republicans had not brought jobs and other benefits for the Black community and that they should support the Democratic candidates in that year's elections.^[10]

In 1940, The Crisis reported on a meeting held where he was branch president of a civil rights organization.^[11]

In 1953, Baxter moved to Fontana, California. He died in a San Bernardino hospital on December 9, 1954.^[12]

References

^ Assembly, New Jersey Legislature General (February 5, 1929). "Votes and Proceedings of the ... General Assembly of the State of New Jersey" – via Google Books.
^ Jersey, New (February 5, 1928). "Acts of the Legislature of the State of New Jersey". Secretary of State. – via Google Books.
^ Manual of the Legislature of New Jersey, Volume 152, p. 335. J.A. Fitzgerald, 1928. Accessed February 6, 2022. "James Leroy Baxter (Rep., Newark) Mr. Baxter was born in Newark, June 13th, 1881, and is an oral surgeon and dentist by profession. Dr. Baxter, whose father, James M. Baxter, was for forty-five years a school principal in the city of Newark, is himself a graduate of the Barringer High School of that city."
^ Wright, Marion (April 1, 1941). "Mr. Baxter's School". Faculty Reprints. 59 (2): 116–133.
^ Borisovets, Natalie. "Research Guides: The Newark Experience: Newark Schools: Early History through the 1920s". libguides.rutgers.edu.
^ Turner, Jean-Rae; Koles, Richard T. (February 5, 2001). Newark, New Jersey. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 9780738523521 – via Google Books.
^ "Democrats Lose One Seat in House", Asbury Park Press, November 7, 1928. Accessed February 6, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "Democrats sustained at least one loss in their slim membership of 14 out of 60 in the house of assembly.... Essex: Guy George Gabrielson, Republican; Ida M. Stelle, Republican; J. Leroy Baxter, Republican..."
^ "Summer Reading 2018: Understanding Black Life in NJ, From 1664 to Today", NJ Spotlight News, August 21, 2018. Accessed February 6, 2022. "State lawmakers seemed to equate mixed race love with illicit sex. Jersey officials busily poked into people’s private lives. An assemblyman from Monmouth County introduced a bill that would outlaw mixed race marriages. Fighting the odious proposal were Assemblymen J. Leroy Baxter, the sole black member of the assembly, attorney Isaac Nutter, and a delegation from the NAACP."
^ Inc, The Women's Project of New Jersey (May 1, 1997). Past and Promise: Lives of New Jersey Women. Syracuse University Press. ISBN 9780815604181 – via Google Books. {{cite book}}: |last= has generic name (help)
^ "Democrats Address Red Bank Negroes", Asbury Park Press, October 21, 1932. Accessed February 6, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "More than 250 Democrats Negro met last night in the Knights of Pythias hall on West Bergen place and heard Dr. J. Leroy Baxter, of Essex county, former Republican assemblyman, tell why the Negro should vote the Democratic ticket.... Dr. Baxter said that for the last 70 years they had been worshipping the Republicans and that in return for their voting strength of 80 percent of their race they received nothing. He promised that if the Democratic candidates were elected the patronage due the Negro would be given."
^ Inc, The Crisis Publishing Company (September 5, 1940). "The Crisis". The Crisis Publishing Company, Inc. – via Google Books. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
^ "James L. Baxter obituary". The San Bernardino County Sun. 1954-12-11. p. 19. Retrieved 2023-09-04.

[1] Assembly, New Jersey Legislature General (February 5, 1929). "Votes and Proceedings of the ... General Assembly of the State of New Jersey" – via Google Books.

[2] Jersey, New (February 5, 1928). "Acts of the Legislature of the State of New Jersey". Secretary of State. – via Google Books.

[3] Manual of the Legislature of New Jersey, Volume 152, p. 335. J.A. Fitzgerald, 1928. Accessed February 6, 2022. "James Leroy Baxter (Rep., Newark) Mr. Baxter was born in Newark, June 13th, 1881, and is an oral surgeon and dentist by profession. Dr. Baxter, whose father, James M. Baxter, was for forty-five years a school principal in the city of Newark, is himself a graduate of the Barringer High School of that city."

[4] Wright, Marion (April 1, 1941). "Mr. Baxter's School". Faculty Reprints. 59 (2): 116–133.

[5] Borisovets, Natalie. "Research Guides: The Newark Experience: Newark Schools: Early History through the 1920s". libguides.rutgers.edu.

[6] Turner, Jean-Rae; Koles, Richard T. (February 5, 2001). Newark, New Jersey. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 9780738523521 – via Google Books.

[7] "Democrats Lose One Seat in House", Asbury Park Press, November 7, 1928. Accessed February 6, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "Democrats sustained at least one loss in their slim membership of 14 out of 60 in the house of assembly.... Essex: Guy George Gabrielson, Republican; Ida M. Stelle, Republican; J. Leroy Baxter, Republican..."

[8] "Summer Reading 2018: Understanding Black Life in NJ, From 1664 to Today", NJ Spotlight News, August 21, 2018. Accessed February 6, 2022. "State lawmakers seemed to equate mixed race love with illicit sex. Jersey officials busily poked into people’s private lives. An assemblyman from Monmouth County introduced a bill that would outlaw mixed race marriages. Fighting the odious proposal were Assemblymen J. Leroy Baxter, the sole black member of the assembly, attorney Isaac Nutter, and a delegation from the NAACP."

[9] Inc, The Women's Project of New Jersey (May 1, 1997). Past and Promise: Lives of New Jersey Women. Syracuse University Press. ISBN 9780815604181 – via Google Books. {{cite book}}: |last= has generic name (help)

[10] "Democrats Address Red Bank Negroes", Asbury Park Press, October 21, 1932. Accessed February 6, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "More than 250 Democrats Negro met last night in the Knights of Pythias hall on West Bergen place and heard Dr. J. Leroy Baxter, of Essex county, former Republican assemblyman, tell why the Negro should vote the Democratic ticket.... Dr. Baxter said that for the last 70 years they had been worshipping the Republicans and that in return for their voting strength of 80 percent of their race they received nothing. He promised that if the Democratic candidates were elected the patronage due the Negro would be given."

[11] Inc, The Crisis Publishing Company (September 5, 1940). "The Crisis". The Crisis Publishing Company, Inc. – via Google Books. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)

[12] "James L. Baxter obituary". The San Bernardino County Sun. 1954-12-11. p. 19. Retrieved 2023-09-04.

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