Andree Layton Roaf (March 31, 1941July 1, 2009) was an

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...

lawyer and jurist. She was the first African-American woman to serve on the

Arkansas Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Arkansas is the highest court in the state judiciary of Arkansas. It has ultimate and largely discretionary appellate jurisdiction over all state court cases that involve a point of state law, and original jurisdiction o ...

, and is the mother of former NFL offensive lineman

Willie Roaf William Layton Roaf (born April 18, 1970), nicknamed "Nasty," is an American former professional football player who was an offensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons. He played college football for Louisiana Tech Bul ...

Biography

Early life

Andree Layton was born in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...

. Her father, William W. Layton, was a

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life o ...

official with the

Urban League The National Urban League, formerly known as the National League on Urban Conditions Among Negroes, is a nonpartisan historic civil rights organization based in New York City that advocates on behalf of economic and social justice for African Am ...

, Michigan Civil Rights Commission,

U.S. Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, and food. It aims to meet the needs of comme ...

and

Federal Reserve Board The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, commonly known as the Federal Reserve Board, is the main governing body of the Federal Reserve System. It is charged with overseeing the Federal Reserve Banks and with helping implement the m ...

, as well as a historian and lecturer. She grew up in Columbus, Ohio, White Hall, Michigan, and

Muskegon, Michigan Muskegon ( ') is a city in Michigan. It is the county seat of Muskegon County. Muskegon is known for fishing, sailing regattas, pleasure boating, and as a commercial and cruise ship port. It is a popular vacation destination because of the expans ...

, where she graduated from Muskegon Heights High School in 1958.Andree Layton Roaf biography
at Arkansas Black Hall of Fame website (retrieved July 2, 2009). She attended Michigan State University and received a degree in

zoology Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and ...

in 1962. For more than a decade, Roaf pursued a career in the sciences, working as a

bacteriologist A bacteriologist is a microbiologist, or similarly trained professional, in bacteriology -- a subdivision of microbiology that studies bacteria, typically pathogenic ones. Bacteriologists are interested in studying and learning about bacteria, ...

for the Michigan Department of Health and then for the

United States Food and Drug Administration The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a federal agency of the Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is responsible for protecting and promoting public health through the control and supervision of food s ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

In 1969 she moved to

Pine Bluff, Arkansas Pine Bluff is the eleventh-largest city in the state of Arkansas and the county seat of Jefferson County. It is the principal city of the Pine Bluff Metropolitan Statistical Area and part of the Little Rock-North Little Rock-Pine Bluff Combin ...

, where she worked for the Pine Bluff Urban Renewal Agency and then as a biologist for the National Center for Toxicological Research in Jefferson ( Jefferson County), Arkansas.

Legal education and career

In 1975 Roaf decided to change careers, and she entered the William H. Bowen School of Law at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. She graduated second in her class in 1978. After a year as an instructor at the law school, she went into private practice at a Little Rock law firm that became known as Walker, Roaf, Campbell, Ivory and Dunklin. In 1995 Governor

Jim Guy Tucker James Guy Tucker Jr. (born June 13, 1943) is an American politician and attorney from Arkansas. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 43rd governor of Arkansas, the 15th lieutenant governor, state attorney general, and U.S. repre ...

appointed her to fill a seat on the

that had become vacant due to the retirement of Justice Steele Hays. She was the second woman, and the first African-American woman, to sit on the court. Prohibited by law from running for re-election, she was appointed by Governor Mike Huckabee to a position on the

Arkansas Court of Appeals The Arkansas Court of Appeals is the intermediate appellate court for the state of Arkansas. It was created in 1978 by Amendment 58 of the Arkansas Constitution, which was implemented by Act 208 of the Arkansas General Assembly in 1979. The court ...

, where she served until 2006. In May 2007 Roaf became director of the federal Office of Desegregation Monitoring, supervising the compliance of the public schools in

Pulaski County, Arkansas Pulaski County is located in the U.S. state of Arkansas with a population of 399,125, making it the most populous county in Arkansas. The county is included in the Little Rock– North Little Rock– Conway metropolitan area. Its county seat is ...

with racial

desegregation Desegregation is the process of ending the separation of two groups, usually referring to races. Desegregation is typically measured by the index of dissimilarity, allowing researchers to determine whether desegregation efforts are having impact o ...

mandates. She held this position until July 1, 2009, when she collapsed in her Little Rock office and later died at the

University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) is a public health sciences university in Little Rock, Arkansas. It is part of the University of Arkansas System and consists of six colleges, seven institutes, several research centers, a s ...

Medical Center.

Personal life

Roaf married Clifton George Roaf in 1963. He became a dentist in Pine Bluff and was a member of local and state school boards. They had four children, including former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

player

, an offensive tackle for the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

and

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The ...

of the NFL who went to 11

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thro ...

sSheldon Mickles
"Roaf ruled the line"
'' The Advocate (Baton Rouge, La.)'', June 21, 2009. and was elected to the

Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coa ...

in 2012, and Phoebe Alison Roaf, an Episcopal priest who is the Bishop of West Tennessee. Roaf was an active member of the Grace Episcopal Church in Pine Bluff."Former Judge Leaves Legacy of Education"
''Pine Bluff Commercial'', July 2, 2009.

Awards

Andree Layton Roaf was inducted into the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame in 1996. She received an honorary doctor of laws degree and a Distinguished Alumni Award from Michigan State University.Michigan State University
''Sesquicentennial Grand Awards 1855-2005''
p.47 (October 20, 2005)(retrieved July 2, 2009).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roaf, Andree Layton 1941 births 2009 deaths Arkansas lawyers Justices of the Arkansas Supreme Court Arkansas state court judges African-American judges Michigan State University alumni Lawyers from Nashville, Tennessee People from Muskegon, Michigan People from Pine Bluff, Arkansas William H. Bowen School of Law alumni African-American Episcopalians 20th-century American judges People from Whitehall, Michigan 20th-century American women judges 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century American Episcopalians 20th-century African-American women 21st-century African-American people 21st-century African-American women 20th-century African-American lawyers