Spottswood William Robinson III

Spottswood William Robinson III
Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
In office 1966[1] – 1989
Nominated by	Lyndon B. Johnson
Preceded by	George Thomas Washington
Succeeded by	Arthur Raymond Randolph
Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia
In office 1964–1966
Nominated by	Lyndon B. Johnson
Preceded by	James Ward Morris
Succeeded by	Gerhard Gesell
Personal details
Born	(1916-07-26)July 26, 1916 Richmond, Virginia
Died	October 11, 1998(1998-10-11) (aged 82) Richmond, Virginia
Nationality	US
Spouse(s)	Marian Wilkerson
Children	Nina Robinson Govan Spottswood W. Robinson IV
Parents	Spottswood William Robinson II
Residence	Richmond, Virginia
Education	Virginia Union University Howard University School of Law (1939)
Known for	civil rights litigation

Spottswood William Robinson III (July 26, 1916 – October 11, 1998) was an American educator, civil rights attorney, and federal judge.

In the early 1950s, Robinson and his law-partner Oliver Hill litigated several civil rights lawsuits in Virginia. In 1951, Robinson and Hill took up the cause of the African American students at the segregated R.R. Moton High School in Farmville, Virginia who had walked out of their dilapidated school. The subsequent lawsuit, Davis v. County School Board of Prince Edward County, was consolidated with four other cases decided under Brown v. Board of Education by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1954. In his arguments before the Court, Robinson made the first argument on behalf of the plaintiffs.^[2]

Robinson was appointed by President Johnson in 1966 to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, the first African-American so appointed and, later, became the first African American to Chief Judge of the District of Columbia Circuit.^[3]

Biography

He was born in Richmond, Virginia on 26 July 1916. His father was a lawyer. He received his undergraduate degree from Virginia Union University. In 1939 he received his law degree from Howard University, graduating first in his class and achieving the highest scholastic average in the history of the Howard University Law School.^[4] He was a faculty member of the Howard University School of Law from his graduation in 1939 until 1947, and was one of the core attorneys of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (LDF) from 1948 to 1960. Through the NAACP Legal Defense Fund he worked on cases such as Brown v. Board of Education, which ended segregation in public schools, and Chance v. Lambeth, which invalidated carrier-enforced racial segregation in interstate transportation.^[5]

Robinson was named Dean of the Howard University School of Law in 1960, remaining in that position through 1963. He also served as a member of the United States Commission on Civil Rights from 1961 to 1963. In 1964 he became the first African-American to be appointed the United States district court for the District of Columbia. In 1966 Robinson became the first African-American appointed to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit when he was appointed by President Lyndon Johnson. On May 7, 1981, he became the first African American to serve as Chief Judge of the District of Columbia Circuit Court. Judge Robinson took senior status in 1989 and later retired. He died on October 11, 1998 in Richmond, Virginia.^[3]

Positions

• Faculty, Howard University School of Law, 1939–1948
• Private practice, Richmond, Virginia, 1943–1960
• Counsel / representative, Virginia NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, 1948–1950
• Southeast regional counsel, NAACP, 1951–1960
• Professor / dean, Howard University School of Law, 1960–1963
• U.S. Commission of Civil Rights, 1961–1963

References