The seminar on the work and lives of West Virginia’s first black lawyer and a founder of the modern civil rights movement, John Robert "J.R." Clifford, and his client, Carrie Williams, will be on Tuesday, March 9, from 4:00 - 6:00 p.m. at the West Virginia University College of Law in Room 153.

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

      Williams was a black schoolteacher who taught at the "colored" school in the Town of Coketon in Tucker County, West Virginia. Williams asked Clifford to represent her after Tucker County school officials shortened the school term for the "colored" school from eight to five months. Williams wanted to continue 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 discrimination in school terms and teacher pay is against the law.

      "We conclude that discrimination against the colored people, because of color alone, is contrary to public policy and the law of the land. If any discrimination in education should be made, it should be favorable to, and not against, the colored people," Supreme Court Justice Marmaduke Dent wrote in the Williams opinion.

      "The principles established in the Williams case helped make West Virginia a magnet for African-American educators in the days of segregated education," said Supreme Court law clerk Tom Rodd, who is coordinating the seminar. "J.R. Clifford and Carrie Williams were true West Virginia civil rights heroes. I hope people will come to the seminar to learn more about their lives and achievements."

      In addition to the seminar on March 9, there will be more three more events to honor J.R. Clifford. 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 next event will be 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. Two more events are being planned for West Virginia State College and Bluefield State College, but dates are not set.

      Supreme Court Chief Justice Elliott Maynard invites and urges the public to attend the series. "Justice Larry 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.

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