Nathan K. McGill

Nathan K. McGill

Portrait of Chicago-based attorney Nathan K. McGill
Born Nathan Kellogg McGill
November 29, 1888(1888-11-29)
Quincy, Florida
Died May 7, 1946(1946-05-07) (aged 57)
Chicago, Illinois
Alma mater Cookman Institute
Boston University School of Law (LL.B.) (1912)
Occupation Attorney
Spouse Idalee Thornton (div)
Beatrice H. Stiles
Children Nathan Kellogg McGill, Jr.
Simuel Decatur McGill II
Winston Beecher McGill

Nathan K. McGill (1888–1946) was the first African American to serve as assistant attorney general for the State of Illinois. He was also the first African American appointed to the Chicago Library Board.[1][2]

Contents

Biography

Nathan Kellogg McGill was born in Quincy, Florida on November 29, 1888 (some sources indicate November 29, 1880[3]), the son of Nathan and Agnes (Zeigler) McGill.[1][4]

After graduating from Cookman Institute, McGill studied at Boston University School of Law. In 1912, he began his career as a lawyer, first in Jacksonville, Florida, then to Chicago, where he spent most of his adult life.[1]

From 1925 to 1934, McGill served as secretary and general counsel for Robert S. Abbott Publishing Company, publishers of the Chicago Defender. At the Defender he was nicknamed ""Little Napoleon"" because he managed the newspaper with authority.[5]

He was also an assistant state's attorney for Cook County, Illinois from 1925 to 1926.[2]

In 1929, he became the first African American to serve as assistant attorney general for the State of Illinois. He served in that capacity until 1933.[1][2]

He died at his home in Chicago on May 7, 1946. McGill was buried in Jacksonville, Florida.[2][6][7]

Awards and recognition

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Yenser, Thomas, ed. (1938-1940) Who's Who in Colored America: A Biographical Dictionary of Notable Living Persons of African Descent in America Brooklyn, New York: Who's Who in Colored America 
  2. ^ a b c d "Death Ends Colorful Career of N. K. McGill". Chicago Defender (Cook County Genealogy Trails). May ? 1946. http://genealogytrails.com/ill/cook/nathanmcgill.html. 
  3. ^ "World War I Draft Registration Card [database on-line"]. United States: The Generations Network. 1918-09-12. http://www.ancestry.com. Retrieved 2010-11-18. 
  4. ^ "U.S. World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942 [database on-line"]. United States: The Generations Network. 1942-04-27. http://www.ancestry.com. Retrieved 2010-11-18. 
  5. ^ Davis, Frank Marshall (1992) "20:1927-1929" in Tidwell, John Edgar Livin' the Blues:Memoirs of a Black Journalist and Poet Madison, Wisconsin and London: The University of Wisconsin Press p. 110 ISBN 0-299-13500-4 "General manager of the Defender was a diminutive, stern faced, wavy haired lawyer, Nathan K. McGill, known as "Little Napoleon," who ruled with a stainless steel hand." 
  6. ^ "Nathan K. McGill". Chicago Tribune (Cook County Genealogy Trails). May 8, 1946. http://genealogytrails.com/ill/cook/nathanmcgill.html. 
  7. ^ "Historical Cook County, Illinois Vital Records [database online"]. Death Certificates. Cook County (IL) Clerk's Office. http://www.cookcountygenealogy.com/Search.aspx. Retrieved 18 November 2010. 

External links