List of first minority male lawyers and judges in Wisconsin
This is a list of the first minority male lawyer(s) and judge(s) in Wisconsin. It includes the year in which the men were admitted to practice law (in parentheses). Also included are men who achieved other distinctions such becoming the first in their state to graduate from law school or become a political figure.
Firsts in Wisconsin's history
[edit]Lawyers
[edit]- First Jewish American male: Nathan Pereles (1857)[1]
- First African American male: Everett E. Simpson (1888)[2]
- First African American male to argue a case before the Wisconsin Supreme Court: William T. Green (1892)[3][4][5][6]
- First Native American (Oneida) male: Dennison Wheelock (1911)[7]
- First Native American male admitted to state bar: Thomas "Ted" St. Germaine (1932)[8][9]
- First African American male public defender from Wisconsin to argue a case before the U.S. Supreme Court: Louis B. Butler (1977) in 1998[10][11]
State judges
[edit]- First Jewish American male (circuit court): Charles L. Aarons in 1925[12]
- First African American male to run for judicial seat: Andrew R. Reneau in 1955[13]
- First Italian American male: John Fiorenza in 1966[14]
- First African American male: Harold Jackson Jr. in 1972[15]
- First Hispanic American male: Ness Flores in 1978[16][17][18]
- First male judge (who is deaf) to use a computerized transcription system in a Wisconsin court: Richard S. Brown[19] in 1983
- First African American male elected without being appointed by a governor: Carl Ashley in 1999[20]
- First Latino American male elected to the circuit court without being appointed by a governor: Ralph Ramirez around 1999[18]
- First African American male (Wisconsin Court of Appeals): Paul B. Higginbotham (1985) in 2003[21][22]
- First Asian American male (Japanese ancestry): Glenn H. Yamahiro (1991) in 2003[23][24]
- First African American male (Wisconsin Supreme Court): Louis B. Butler (1977) in 2004[10][11]
- First Latino American male (Wisconsin Court of Appeals): Pedro Colón in 2023[25]
- First Filipino American male:[26] Raphael Ramos in 2023
Federal judges
[edit]- First African American male (U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wisconsin): Charles N. Clevert Jr. (1972) in 1977[27]
- First African American male (U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin): Charles N. Clevert Jr. (1972) in 1995[27]
Assistant United States Attorney
[edit]- First African American male: Grady L. Pettigrew, Jr. in 1975[28]
District Attorney
[edit]- First African American male: Ismael Ozanne in 2010[29]
Assistant District Attorney
[edit]- First African American male: Andrew R. Reneau[13]
State Bar of Wisconsin
[edit]- First Jewish American male president: Benjamin Poss in 1937[12]
Firsts in local history
[edit]- Daniel Bernstine:[30] First African American male to serve as the Dean of University of Wisconsin Law School (1990)
- Paul B. Higginbotham:[21][22] First African American judge in Dane County, Wisconsin (1994). He was also the first African American municipal court judge in Madison, Wisconsin (1992).
- Juan Colas:[16][17] First Hispanic American male judge in Dane County, Wisconsin (2008)
- Ismael Ozanne:[29] First African American male to serve as the District Attorney of Dane County, Wisconsin (2010)
- Paul Rigopoulos:[31] First Greek American male lawyer in Fitchburg, Wisconsin [Dane County, Wisconsin]
- Nathan Pereles:[32] First Jewish American male lawyer in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
- Casimir Gonski (1893):[33] First Polish lawyer in Milwaukee, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin
- William T. Green (1892):[3][4][5][6] First African American male lawyer in Milwaukee, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin
- George Yep (1949):[34] First Chinese American male lawyer in Milwaukee, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin
- Harold B. Jackson, Jr.:[35] First African American male to serve as the Assistant District Attorney of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin
- Clarence Parrish:[36] First African American male to win a judicial seat in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin (1981)
- Brett Blomme:[37] First openly LGBT male to win a judicial seat in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin (2020)
- Ralph Ramirez:[38] First Hispanic American male elected as a circuit court judge in Waukesha County, Wisconsin
See also
[edit]Other topics of interest
[edit]- List of first women lawyers and judges in the United States
- List of first women lawyers and judges in Wisconsin
References
[edit]- ^ "Urban spelunking: Irgens' BMO Towers, both old and new". OnMilwaukee. September 20, 2019. Retrieved May 17, 2024.
- ^ Quaife, Milo Milton; Schafer, Joseph; Alexander, Edward Porter (2007). Wisconsin Magazine of History. State Historical Society of Wisconsin.
- ^ a b "African-Americans at the University of Wisconsin (1875-1969)". UW Archives and Records Management. June 8, 2015. Retrieved February 13, 2018.
- ^ a b "How a Milwaukee Opera House Kick Started the Fight for Civil Rights". MKE Memoirs. February 11, 2013. Retrieved February 13, 2018.
- ^ a b Wisconsin Lawyer: Official Publication of the State Bar of Wisconsin. State Bar of Wisconsin. 1995.
- ^ a b "Green, William T. 1860 - 1911 | Wisconsin Historical Society". Wisconsin Historical Society. August 8, 2017. Retrieved February 13, 2018.
- ^ Krupat, Arnold (November 2021). Boarding School Voices: Carlisle Indian School Students Speak. U of Nebraska Press. ISBN 978-1-4962-2890-1.
- ^ "Learn of Death of Thomas St. Germaine". Ironwood Daily Globe. October 9, 1947. p. 12. Retrieved March 5, 2022.
- ^ Indian's Friend. National Indian Association. 1904.
- ^ a b "Wisconsin Court System - Louis B. Butler Jr". www.wicourts.gov. Retrieved January 30, 2018.
- ^ a b Strebel, Erika (April 13, 2018). "Former justice to speak at UW hooding ceremony". Retrieved June 7, 2024.
- ^ a b Landman, Isaac (1939). The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia in 10 Volumes: An Authoritative and Popular Presentation of Jews and Judaism Since the Earliest Times. Universal Jewish Encyclopedia, Incorporated.
- ^ a b "The History of Wisconsin's Black Lawyers 2019" (PDF). Wisconsin Association of African American Lawyers. 2019.
- ^ "John Fiorenza Obituary (2020) - Brookfield, WI - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel". Legacy.com. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
- ^ "8 notable Black lives laid to rest in Milwaukee's Forest Home Cemetery". WUWM 89.7 FM - Milwaukee's NPR. February 28, 2022. Retrieved July 19, 2022.
- ^ a b "Sí Se Puede 2016: Wisconsin's 48 Most Powerful Latinos". Madison365. October 9, 2017. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
- ^ a b Schultz, Zac. "First Hispanic Judge in Dane County". www.nbc15.com. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
- ^ a b "Judge Ralph Ramirez: On the Art and Science of Being a Judge". State Bar of Wisconsin. Retrieved January 27, 2022.
- ^ Smith, Dorothy (Spring 1989). "Communication in the Courtroom" (PDF).
- ^ "State Bar recognizes Judge Carl Ashley for exceptional contributions to the justice system". WisBar. Retrieved March 14, 2020.
- ^ a b "Wisconsin Court System - Court of Appeals Judges - Judge Higginbotham". www.wicourts.gov. Retrieved January 11, 2018.
- ^ a b Johnson, Michael (January 27, 2018). "A History of Black Madison". Madison365. Retrieved March 12, 2020.
- ^ "Judge Glenn Yamahiro '91 to Give Keynote Speech at LEO Banquet | University of Wisconsin Law School". law.wisc.edu. Retrieved February 15, 2018.
- ^ "Glenn Yamahiro '91 named judge | University of Wisconsin Law School". law.wisc.edu. Retrieved February 15, 2018.
- ^ Roche, Mariana La (June 20, 2023). "Wisconsin governor appoints first Latino Judge to Court of Appeals". WISN. Retrieved June 22, 2023.
- ^ Kilmer, Graham. "Raphael Ramos Announces for Circuit Court Judge". Urban Milwaukee. Retrieved June 5, 2024.
- ^ a b "Clevert a trailblazer in federal court". Retrieved January 19, 2018.
- ^ "Judge Hackett attended Wayne State University and received an A.B. degree in 1949 and his LL.B degree in PDF Free Download". docplayer.net. Retrieved March 12, 2020.
- ^ a b Martinez, Michael (May 12, 2015). "Ismael Ozanne: Wisconsin's prosecutor in Robinson case". CNN. Retrieved March 11, 2020.
- ^ USBE/HE Professional. Career Communications Group. 1990.
- ^ Kirkpatrick, Doris (1975). The City and the River. Fitchburg Historical Society.
- ^ "The Bicentennial and Milwaukee Jewry". Newspapers.com. July 29, 1976. Retrieved May 17, 2024.
- ^ "Pinkowski Files". www.poles.org. Retrieved September 18, 2017.
- ^ "George Yep: Milwaukee's First Chinese American Lawyer · MPL". www.mpl.org. Retrieved June 4, 2024.
- ^ The Wisconsin Bar Bulletin. Wisconsin Bar Association. 1984.
- ^ Green, Shannon. "Telling the Story of Wisconsin's Pioneering Black Lawyers". WisBar. Retrieved March 4, 2020.
- ^ Vielmetti, Bruce. "Milwaukee County Children's Court Judge Brett Blomme charged with 7 counts of child pornography". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved February 17, 2022.
- ^ "Ramirezes form a portrait of U.S. Latinos". Retrieved January 13, 2018.