February 7, 2020
In honor of Black History Month, Kobre & Kim is reflecting on the unique contributions made by African Americans both inside and outside the legal industry. Today we highlight lawyer and suffragist, Charlotte Gray.
Ms. Gray was born in New York City and went on to attend Howard University and Howard School of Law in Washington, DC. Upon the completion of her studies in 1872, she became the first known black woman to become a lawyer in the United States. She was also among the nation’s handful of women lawyers in 1872 and was the first woman of any ethnicity to be admitted to the District of Columbia bar.
After a brief career in law, she moved back to New York, where she became a teacher and an advocate for women’s suffrage. Ms. Gray was a delegate at the 1876 conference of the National Woman’s Suffrage Association and continued fighting for racial and gender equality until her death in 1911.