Edward Everett Wilson was an American lawyer born in

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, on January 1, 1867. He initially attended

Oberlin College Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio. It is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational liberal arts college in the United S ...

, but later transferred to

Williams College Williams College is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams, a col ...

. He received his degree, with honors, from Williams College in 1892. Wilson was elected to the

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal a ...

honorary society, one of the first African Americans to attain that honor. Subsequently, he obtained his Bachelor of Laws degree from

Howard University Howard University (Howard) is a private, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity" and accredited by the Middle States Commissi ...

in 1894. Moving to

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, he filled the post of assistant state attorney for

Cook County, Illinois Cook County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of Illinois and the second-most-populous county in the United States, after Los Angeles County, California. More than 40% of all residents of Illinois live within Cook County. As of 20 ...

, from 1912 until his retirement in 1947. Wilson died in France while on vacation on February 21, 1952.Titcomb, Caldwell. "The Earliest Black Members of Phi Beta Kappa," ''The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education'', No. 33 (Autumn 2001), pp. 98-99.

References

Works

"The Joys of Being a Negro," ''

Atlantic Monthly ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

'' (

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, Mass), v. 97, Feb. 1906, pp. 245–250 1867 births 1952 deaths 20th-century African-American lawyers American lawyers Howard University School of Law alumni Oberlin College alumni Williams College alumni {{US-law-bio-stub