First Black LAW Graduate

in Commencement, Firsts, Learning
February 28th, 1877

Emanuel Hewlett is the first black Boston University School of Law graduate and one of the first black degree recipients of a major US law school. Upon his death in 1929, the Supreme Court adjourns for the day, an honor reserved for the most respected members of the bar.

Photo courtesy of “Crisis.” New York, N.Y. Crisis Publication Company. Volume 36, Page 416. [1929]