Black History Month — A Celebration of Washington’s Judicial Trailblazers
In 1915, following a trip to an anniversary celebration of the Emancipation Proclamation, Dr. Carter G. Woodson co-founded the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH). Time.com reports, “Woodson witnessed how black people were underrepresented in the books and conversations that shaped the study of American history. According to the way many historians taught the nation’s past, African Americans were barely part of the story — a narrative that Woodson knew was not true.” Dr. Woodson designated the second week in February as Negro History Week in 1926. The date was chosen to coincide with the birthdays of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln.
Dr. Woodson and the ASALH did not confine the celebration to just one week however, and in the years following, groups around the country continued to call for more materials to teach Black history and for a longer period of time to officially celebrate the achievements and contributions of Black Americans. The ASALH recognizes “that during the mid-1960s, and especially when college students demanded courses on African Americans and led protests demanding Black Studies Departments, there were calls for extending Negro History week into a month-long celebration from such groups as the Pan-American/Pan-African Association in Washington DC and students at Kent State University in Ohio, and from local communities throughout America.”
It was not until 1976, the year of the United States’ bicentennial, that President Gerald Ford issued a presidential proclamation proclaiming February as Black History Month. He issued his “Message on the Observance of Black History Month” on February 10th of that year. Every President since has followed in Ford’s footsteps. On February 3rd President Joe Biden issued the 2021 Proclamation.
This Black History Month, the Washington State Law Library celebrates some past and present trailblazers in the Washington State judiciary.
Judge John E. Prim
Judge John Edmondson Prim practiced law privately in Seattle following his graduation from the University of Washington in 1927. In 1943 he became the first African American to serve as Deputy Prosecutor of King County. He returned to private practice in 1951. Three years later he was appointed as Judge Pro Tem of the Seattle Municipal Court, making him Washington State’s first African American judge. Judge Prim also helped found the Seattle Urban League and was the first African American member of the State Board of Prisons and Parole.
Judge Norma S. Huggins
Norma S. Huggins began her career as a nurse in Ohio. Following the receipt of her law degree from the University of Arkansas, she started her legal career as a trial attorney for a Seattle non-profit. In 1983, with her appointment to the Seattle Municipal Court, Judge Huggins became the first African American woman to serve as a judge in Washington State. Five years later she was a judge in the King County Superior Court.
In the March 2000 edition of the Equal Justice newsletter Washington Court of Appeals Judge Ronald E. Cox commended Judge Huggins for representing “the very best of what a judge should aspire to be.” She made contributions to several organizations including the Washington State Minority and Justice Commission, the Washington State Task Force on Gender and Justice in the Courts, and the Domestic Violence Task Force.
Justice Charles Z. Smith
Hon. Charles Z. Smith became the first African American to serve as a Seattle Municipal Court judge in 1965 and a year later became the first African American to be named to the King County Superior Court bench.
Justice Smith began his career in the Temple of Justice in 1955 as the first person of color to clerk for a Washington State Supreme Court Justice. Thirty three years later he became the first person of color to be appointed to the Supreme Court bench where he served until he reached the mandatory retirement age of 75.
Upon Justice Smith’s retirement American Bar Association Council on Racial and Ethnic Justice staff director Rachel Patrick said, “He single-handedly launched the national movement to get state courts working together on issues of bias.” Justice Smith passed away in 2016 at age 89. A memorial service was held at the Temple of Justice on June 1, 2017. Justice Smith contributed his oral history, Charles Z. Smith: Trailblazer, to the Washington State Heritage Center Legacy Project in 2008.
Justice G. Helen Whitener
Justice G. Helen Whitener is the first Black woman to serve on the Washington State Supreme Court. Appointed in April 2020 by Governor Jay Inslee, Justice Whitener was elected to retain her seat in the following November election.
Originally from Trinidad and Tobago, Justice Whitener began her legal career as a prosecutor and defense attorney. She also served as a judge for the Washington State Board of Industrial Appeals, Pierce County District Court, and the Tacoma Municipal Court. Prior to her appointment to the Supreme Court Justice Whitener was a Pierce County Superior Court judge.
Her Supreme Court profile states that “Justice Whitener is well recognized by the legal community for her commitment to justice and equity. In January 2021, Justice Whitener received the Western Region of the National Black Law Students Association Judge of the Year Award. The 400 Years of African American History Commission has also honored Justice Whitener, naming her a 2020 Distinguished 400 Awardee.”
To learn more about Black History Month and notable Black figures in Washington State and U.S. history, check out the following links:
Before Title II: Civil Rights in Washington State (Washington State Law Library Blog, 2019)
Loving Day (Washington State Law Library Blog, 2018)
MLK 50th Anniversary Commemoration (Washington State Law Library Blog, 2018)
Celebrating Black History Month in Washington (Washington State Bar Association, 2016)
Black History Month 2021: Honoring Trailblazers in the Legal Profession (American Bar Association, 2021)
Law Library of Congress: Executive and Legislative Documents Related to Black History Month
Black History Facts (History.com)
African American History (BlackPast.org) (LE)
