WV Supreme Court Kicks Off Tribute to Civil Rights Pioneer J. R. Clifford During Black History Month

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:		CONTACT:
February 20, 2004		Michelle T. Mensore
		(304) 720- 0342

West Virginia Supreme Court Kicks Off Tribute to
Civil Rights Pioneer J.R. Clifford During Black History Month

Charleston, W. Va. - As our nation celebrates Black History Month in February, the West Virginia Supreme Court announces a series of events to honor a founder of the modern civil rights movement and West Virginia’s first black attorney, John Robert "J. R." Clifford.

Clifford was born in 1848 near Moorefield, Virginia (now West Virginia) and fought in the Civil War as a teenager. After becoming West Virginia’s first black lawyer, he practiced law in Martinsburg. He also was a teacher and the publisher of a national black newspaper, the Pioneer Press.

In 1898, Clifford became part of national civil rights history when the West Virginia Supreme Court ruled in favor of his client, a black school teacher named Carrie Williams. Williams had asked Clifford to represent her after school officials in Tucker County, West Virginia shortened the school term for the "colored" school in Coketon from eight to five months. Williams continued teaching and sued the school board for payment for the full school term.

The Tucker County Circuit Court and the West Virginia Supreme Court ruled in Williams’ favor making Williams v. Board of Education the first case in U.S. history to hold that racial discrimination in school terms and teacher pay is against the law.

More than a century after its decision in Williams v. Board of Education, the West Virginia Supreme Court is honoring Clifford during Black History Month with a feature on its Web site (www.state.wv.us/wvsca) and by sponsoring a series of events. The events coincide with the 50^th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, the United States Supreme Court case that ended segregated public schools and government-sanctioned segregation generally.

The first event is a free seminar discussing Clifford’s life and work on Tuesday, March 9, from 4:00 - 6:00 p.m. at the WVU College of Law in Morgantown.

The second event is a free dramatic re-enactment of the trial and appeal of the Williams case on Monday, April 12, from 7:30 - 9:00 p.m. at the Berkeley County Courthouse in Martinsburg, where Clifford practiced law.

Chief Justice Elliott E. Maynard invites and urges the public to attend the events in Morgantown and Martinsburg. "Justice Larry V. Starcher and law clerk Tom Rodd were instrumental in creating and planning these events, which will be very entertaining as well as educational," Chief Justice Maynard said.

Two more events are being planned for West Virginia State College and Bluefield State College, but dates are not set.

The series to honor J.R. Clifford is sponsored by the West Virginia Supreme Court, the Mountain State Bar Association, the Minority Lawyers Section of the West Virginia State Bar, and the West Virginia and Berkeley Chapters of the NAACP. The West Virginia Humanities Counsel provided funding through a $1,500 grant.

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