Charlotte E. Ray

Charlotte E. Ray (January 13, 1850 – January 4, 1911) was the first African-American female lawyer in the United States.^[1] Ray graduated from Howard University School of Law in 1872 and became the first female admitted to the District of Columbia Bar. Ray opened her own law office and planned to practice real estate law. She did this so she can avoid “court appearances and the discrimination that women attorneys encountered.” (Hines) Stewart ran advertisements in a newspaper run by Frederick Douglass. While practicing she would often use her initials, instead of her full name, so that “her clients would not suffer because their legal counsel could be identified as a women.” Ray only practiced for a few years because the prejudice was just too much at the time. She had two great odds against her. She was an African American and she was a woman. Due to these she was unable to attract many clients and forced to close her practice. Ray eventually moved to New York, where she became a teacher in Brooklyn. She joined the National Association of Colored Women and “championed a number of social causes outside of her classroom.” Her achievements helped inspire countless women, especially African-American women, to reach for their goals even though it might seem impossible.

Early life

Ray was born in New York City to Charlotte Augusta Burroughs and Reverend Charles Bennett Ray, a prominent abolitionist. Education was important to her father, who made sure each of his girls went to college. She had six siblings, two of which were sisters, Cordelia and Florence. Charlotte had a rough time growing up with 10 people living in the house. Reverend Charles Bennett Ray was an important figure in the abolitionist movement and edited a paper called The Colored American. Charlotte attended a school called the Institution for the Education of Colored Youth in Washington, D.C., which was one of the few places black women could gain proper education. After this she became a teacher at Howard University in the Normal and Preparatory Department, which was the University's Prep School. While teaching at Howard, she registered in the Law Department. In the law school she specialized in commercial law, and graduated on February 27, 1872 and was the first woman to graduate from the Howard University School of Law.

Admission controversy

Some claim she was admitted to the Howard School of Law in the District of Columbia in 1872 because she applied under the name “C. E. Ray” and that Ray used an alternate name to disguise her gender so that her admission would not be instantly revoked. There are also claims (Smith) that her use of initials is not proven, and it would not have been needed, because Howard University at this time had a clearly articulated policy of acceptance of blacks and of women. She was affiliated with the Phi Beta Kappa. (Hargert).

Independent practice

Ray was admitted to the District of Columbia Bar on April 23, 1872.^[2] She began her independent practice of commercial law in 1872, which she advertised in a newspaper called New National Era and Citizen owned by Frederick Douglass. She was the first women allowed to practice and argue in the District of Columbia Supreme Court in Washington D.C. Contrary to popular belief, Charlotte E. Ray was active in court and can be heard in her pleading for the Galdey vs. Gadley case, June 3. 1875. (Smith) In this case, she defends an uneducated woman petitioning for divorce, liberating her from an abusive relationship. Despite the connections she had from Howard, and the advertising, she was unable to keep a steady client flow due mostly to ever present discrimination. Regardless of her legal knowledge and corporate law expertise, not enough people were willing to trust a black woman with their cases. Instead she gave up her practice and she devoted her professionalism to the Brooklyn school system. Hargrove. She never let anything or anyone stop her for doing what she believed in.

Personal life

Ray attended the National Woman Suffrage Association's New York convention in 1876.^[3] She married in the late 1880s and became Charlotte E. Fraim. After 1895 Ray seems to have been active in the National Association of Colored Women.

In 1897 she moved to Woodside, Long Island, where she died of acute bronchitis at the age of 60 on January 4, 1911.

Poet H. Cordelia Ray was her sister, although at one point all three sisters were teachers. Charlotte gave up teaching for a period to practice law, and Cordelia gave up teaching to obtain her masters and write poetry.

Posthumous honors

In March 2006, The Northeastern University School of Law (Boston, MA) chapter of Phi Alpha Delta Law Fraternity International chose to honor Ray by naming their newly chartered chapter after her, in recognition of her place as the first female African-American attorney.^[4]

References

References

• James, E. and others, editors, Notable American Women 1607-1950, Volume I (Harvard: Harvard University Press, 1971).
• J. Clay Smith, ed., Rebels in Law: Voices in History of Black Women Lawyers, Univ. of Michigan Press, 1998
• "Charlotte E. Ray", Black Women in America: Profiles, (1999)
• J. Clay Smith, Black Women Lawyers: 125 Years at the Bar, 100 Years in the Legal Academy, 40 How.L.Rev. 369 (1997).
• Virginia G. Drachman. Sisters in Law: Women Lawyers in Modern American History, Harvard University Press, 1998
• Tonya Michelle Osborne, Charlotte E. Ray: A Black Woman Lawyer, 2001
• Ardelle M Bahar, ed.,Howard Law Journal 43:2
• J. Clay Smith,Charotte E. Ray Pleads Before Court Howard Law Journal 43:2
• Monica Hargrove,The Evolution of Black Lawyers in Corporate America: From Road Less Traveled to Managing the Highway
• Famous FIRST Facts. Ebony 60.4 (2005)
• " Charlotte Ray E.," Biography.com, (accessed Feb 2012).
• Van Winkle, Sara. "Legal Resistance." Black Women in America, Second Edition, edited by Ed. Darlene Clark Hine. Oxford African American Studies Center, (accessed Feb EST 2012).
• Chicago Legal News, October 23, 1897