THE SPHINX
A Virgin Field of Activity Continued from Page 14 With the coming in power of a, Democratic administration under Pres i d e n t Wilson, one would naturally expect to see Judge Terrell displaced. However, when his name came up for reappointment, it carried with it the unqualified and unanimous recommendation of the District of Columbia Bar Association, composed of Democrats and Republicans, predominately southerners. He was promptly appointed by President Wilson and reappointed and confirmed by a Democratic Senate in Wilson's second term. Judge Terrell was reappointed by President Harding and was confirmed by the Senate on June 22, 1924, about one week after his name had been submitted. He had been confirmed six times. T the time of his death, he was the dean of the Municipal Court Bench and left the remarkable record having been reversed in his decisions by the Court of Appeals only five times in twenty-three years on the bench. In his decision upholding the Ball Rent Act, Judge Terrell's most important legal triumph is well remembered. Not only did he have the honor of being sustained by the United States Supreme Courts— the victory was doubly important, and do doubt doubly gratifying because his decision had twice been reversed by the District Court of Appeals, which declared the Ball Rent Act unconstitutional. The spectacle of a Negro judge's decision on constitutional law being upheld by the Supreme Court after two reversals by the judges of the Court of Appeals should stand as a great inspiration to our young men of legal training. Robert H. Terrell was born at Orange, Virginia, on November 25, 1857. His family moved to Washington during the early Reconstruction days and there he laid the foundation of his education in the public schools. After making a brilliant record in the high school, he matriculated at Lawrence Academy, Groton, Massachusetts. In 1880 he entered Harvard University, received his A. B. degree cum laude in 1884, was one of the five commencement speaker, r e c e i v e d special honors for his scholarship in Greek, and was the third Negro to graduate from Harvard and the first to graduate cum laude. Returning to Washington, he taught in the high school from 1884-1889. From his youth he had been drawn to the law as a profession—"That profession which is as ancient as ancient as magistracy, noble as virtue, and necessary as justice." He carried on his l a w . studies while teaching and in 1898 was graduated from Howard University Law School. Again
he led his class, of which he was valedictorian. The following year he won his master's degree from the same institution. As a student, teacher, lawyer and jurist, his work was always brilliant and unique. He graced his profession and his race with a record of accomplishment and integrity of which any man might well be proud. Judge Terrell died December 20, 1925, at his home in Washington, D. C. after having served as judge of the Municipal Court of the District of Columbia for a continuous period of twenty-three years. The annual ceremonies of the National Bar Association last year were held in honor of that great Negro scholar, first dean of the Law School of Howard University, John Mercer Langston. Meetings were held in every large city in the country, and thousands of persons were present to honor the memory of this great man. Great interest was shown by Negro lawyers all over the country in the National Bar Association, hundreds of new members joining in this effort to acquaint the public with the strides of the Negro Bar and their progress. SURVEY recently conducted by the Howard University Law S c h o o l shows the interesting and most significant fact that the percentage of Negro students entering the field of law today is greater by 500% than those who undertook the study of law a decade ago. There's a greater percentage of Negro students undertaking the legal progession today than any other profession as compared with that that u n d e r t o o k this study ten years a g o . This to my mind, is highly significant with respect to the Negro in his advancement in society and more active participation in politics, civic, and governmental affairs. To me this is a healthy sign. Certainly there should be more beneficial results than if, for example, the trend were in the direction of 500% increase in Negro students entering the clergy or even the medical profession, especially when one considers that 75% of those who enter the medical profession wend their way towards the larger cities where the profession, as far as the Negro doctor is concerned, is overcrowded. The Negro lawyer in Ameri c a h a s barely scratched the surface of opportunity in his profession. I am not a pessimist on the subject of the difficulties that confront the Negro lawyer a t the American bar; I agree with some critics that the difficulties facing the Negro lawyer are much more serious than those facing the Negro doctor. It is true that
Page 31 the Negro who makes a success must make his success generally in a courtroom filled with people of the opposite race, must plead to a judge and jury of white people, is opposed by white counsel, and must argue his apppeal before a white tribunal; but all of this can be overcome by the Negro who chooses to study law, if he carefully applies .himself to every subject that he understakes to study, with a determination to master a thorough knowledge of his profession and to practice his profession zealously and honestly. STATEMENT OF THE OWNERSHIP, MANAGEMENT, CIRCULATION, ETC., REQUIRED BY THE ACT OF CONGRESS OF A U G U S T 24, 1912, Of The Sphinx published B times per year at Norfolk, Va., for April 1, 1931. State of Virginia SS. County of Norfolk Before me, a Notary Public in and for the State and county aforesaid, personally appeared P. Bernard Young. Jr., who having been duly sworn according to law, deposes and Bays that he is the Editor of the Sphinx and that the following is, to the best of his knowledge and belief, a true statement of the ownership, management (and if a daily paper, the circulation), etc., of the aforesaid publication for the date shown in the above caption, required by the Art of August 24, 1912, embodied in section 411, Postal Laws and Regulations, printed on the reverse of this form, to w i t : 1. That the name and addresses of the publisher, editor, managing editor, and business managers a r e : Publisher Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., 719 E. Olney Rd., Norfolk, Va. Editor, P. Bernard Young, Jr., 719 E. Olney Rd., Norfolk, Va. Managing Editor, P. Bernard Young Jr., 719 E. Olney Rd„ Norfolk, Va. Business Manager, P. Bernard Young, Jr., 719 E. Olney Rd., Norfolk, Va. 2. That the owner i s : (If owned by a corporation, its name and address must be stated and also immediately thereunder the names and addresses of stockholders owning or holding one per cent or more of total amount of stock. If not owed by a corporation, the names and addresses of the individual owners must be given. If owned by a firm, company, or other unincorporated concern, its name and address, as well as those of each individual member, must be given.) Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., 719 E Olney Rd., Norfolk, Va. 3 That the known bondholders, mortgages. and other security holders owning or holding 1 per cent or more of total amount of bonds, mortgages, or other securities a r e : (If there are none, so state.) None. 4. That the two paragraphs next above, giving the names of the owners, stockholders, and security holders, if any, contain not only the list of stockholders and security holders as they appear upon the books of the company but also, in cases where the stockholders or security holders appear upon the books of the company as trustee or in any other fiduciary relation, the name of the person or corporation for whom such trustee is acting, is given: also that the said two paragraphs contain statements embracing affiant's full knowledge and belief as to the circumstances and conditions under which stockholders and security holders who do not appear upon the books of the company as trustees. hold stock and securities in a capacity other than that of a bona-fide owner and this affiant has no reason to believe that any other person, association or corporation has any interest direct in the said stock, bonds, or other securities than as so stated by him. 5 That the average number of copies of each issue of this publication sold or distributed, through the mails or otherwise, to paid subscribers during the six months preceding the date shown above is (This information is required from daily publications only.) Signed: P. Bernard Young, Jr., Editor. Sworn to and subscribed before me this first day of April, 1931. (Seal.) Eleanor W. Young Form 3526.-Ed. 1924. (My commission expires June 18, 1934.) Sworn to and subscribed before me this first day of April 1931,