Archibald J. Carey, Jr was an American lawyer, judge, politician, diplomat and clergyman from the south side of Chicago. He was an alderman for many years under the patronage of powerful African-American politician William L. Dawson. For many years Judge Carey was a major figure in Chicago's political and religious life. He won numerous awards for his oratorical skills and contribution to civic improvement.
Carey was a native of Chicago where he attended Wendell Phillips High School. He was also a graduate of John Marshall Law School in Chicago. He was twice elected to serve as an alderman from Chicago's Third Ward and served from 1947 to 1955. Mr. Carey served as an alternate delegate from the United States to the United Nations from 1953 to 1956. Judge Carey was appointed Chair of the President's Committee on Government Employment Policy by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on August 3, 1957. He was the first African-American to hold this position. He became a Circuit Court judge in 1966, serving until 1978 when he was forced by law to retire from the bench at 70 years of age. Despite this, he was reappointed to serve another year because of the court's large caseload. He also served as pastor of Quinn Chapel AME Church in Chicago and was named pastor emeritus of the church in 1967.
Carey was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.[1]
He died on April 21, 1981 in Chicago.
Here is excerpt from the end of his speech to the 1952 Republican National Convention, which some have claimed was plagiarized by Martin Luther King Jr. in his celebrated "I have a dream" speech, while others disagree.
"We, Negro Americans, sing with all loyal Americans: 'My country 'tis of thee,/Sweet land of liberty,/Of thee I sing./Land where my fathers died,/ Land of the Pilgrims' pride,/From every mountainside,/Let freedom ring!' That's exactly what we mean—from every mountain side, let freedom ring. Not only from the Green Mountains and White Mountains of Vermont and New Hampshire; not only from the Catskills of New York; but from the Ozarks in Arkansas, from the Stone Mountain in Georgia, from the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia—let it ring not only for the minorities of the United States, but for the persecuted of Europe, for the rejected of Asia, disfranchised of South Africa and for the disinherited of all the earth—may the Republican Party, under God, from every mountainside, 'LET FREEDOM RING.'"[2]