Fredrick Lamar McGhee (October 28, 1861 – September 9, 1912) was an African-American criminal defense lawyer and
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 ...
activist. Born a
slave in
Mississippi
Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...
, McGhee would become the first black attorney in
Minnesota
Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...
. Alongside close friend and collaborator of
W. E. B. Du Bois, McGhee would leave the
National Afro-American Council to help co-found the
Niagara Movement
The Niagara Movement (NM) was a black civil rights organization founded in 1905 by a group of activists—many of whom were among the vanguard of African-American lawyers in the United States—led by W. E. B. Du Bois and William Monroe Trotter. ...
.
McGhee has been noted as one of the first prominent Black supporters of the
Democratic Party at a time when Black voters overwhelmingly supported the
Republican Party. McGhee was a vocal supporter of
William Jennings Bryan
William Jennings Bryan (March 19, 1860 – July 26, 1925) was an American lawyer, orator and politician. Beginning in 1896, he emerged as a dominant force in the Democratic Party, running three times as the party's nominee for President ...
in the
1900 presidential election, and spoke out against Republican
William McKinley
William McKinley (January 29, 1843September 14, 1901) was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until his assassination in 1901. As a politician he led a realignment that made his Republican Party largely dominant in ...
's support for
imperialism.
McGhee is also noted for being a convert to
Catholicism
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
in a time when African Americans were overwhelmingly Protestant.
Early life and education
McGhee was born near
Aberdeen
Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...
,
Mississippi
Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...
, to Abraham McGhee and Sarah Walker, who were enslaved. His father, from
Blount County,
Tennessee
Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...
, was
literate
Literacy in its broadest sense describes "particular ways of thinking about and doing reading and writing" with the purpose of understanding or expressing thoughts or ideas in written form in some specific context of use. In other words, hum ...
, rare for an enslaved person in those times, and later became a lay
Baptist
Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compe ...
preacher
A preacher is a person who delivers sermons or homilies on religious topics to an assembly of people. Less common are preachers who preach on the street, or those whose message is not necessarily religious, but who preach components such as ...
. The McGhees escaped slavery from the John A. Walker farmer near Aberdeen with
Union
Union commonly refers to:
* Trade union, an organization of workers
* Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets
Union may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
Music
* Union (band), an American rock group
** ''Un ...
troops in 1864, and made their way to
Knoxville
Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division and the state' ...
, Tennessee, where Abraham McGhee had been enslaved as a younger man.
Abraham McGhee died in 1873 and Sarah soon thereafter, leaving the young McGhee brothers orphans. McGhee got a basic education in Freedman's schools, and received his legal education at
Knoxville College
Knoxville College is a historically black liberal arts college in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States, which was founded in 1875 by the United Presbyterian Church of North America. It is a United Negro College Fund member school.
A slow peri ...
, graduating in 1885.
Legal career
As a teenager he followed his brothers to
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
, where he started work as a porter, but within several years became a lawyer associated with Chicago's leading black lawyer of the time,
Edward H. Morris
Edward H. Morris (May 30, 1858 – February 3, 1943) was an American lawyer and state legislator in Illinois.
Biography
Edward H. Morris was born in Flemingsburg, Kentucky, on May 30, 1858. He graduated from St. Patrick's High School, Chicago ...
.
In 1886 McGhee married Mattie Crane, who was originally from Louisville. Later they had one adopted daughter, Ruth. In 1889 the McGhees moved to
St. Paul, Minnesota, where he became the first black lawyer admitted to the bar in that state. He specialized in criminal defense and quickly became one of the most famous trial lawyers in the Twin Cities. As an attorney, McGhee successfully won clemency from President
Benjamin Harrison
Benjamin Harrison (August 20, 1833March 13, 1901) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 23rd president of the United States from 1889 to 1893. He was a member of the Harrison family of Virginia–a grandson of the ninth pr ...
for Lewis Carter, a Black soldier who had been falsely accused of a crime.
Civil rights advocacy
McGhee participated in every local and national civil rights movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He served as a national officer of the
National Afro-American Council and organized its national meeting, held in St. Paul, in 1902. At that meeting
Booker T. Washington
Booker Taliaferro Washington (April 5, 1856November 14, 1915) was an American educator, author, orator, and adviser to several presidents of the United States. Between 1890 and 1915, Washington was the dominant leader in the African-American c ...
took control of the Council, over McGhee's objections. McGhee broke with Washington and the Council in 1903, and was soon joined by
W.E.B. DuBois.
In response, McGhee would join Du Bois in founding the
Niagara Movement
The Niagara Movement (NM) was a black civil rights organization founded in 1905 by a group of activists—many of whom were among the vanguard of African-American lawyers in the United States—led by W. E. B. Du Bois and William Monroe Trotter. ...
, in 1905. The Niagara Movement was immediate predecessor of the
NAACP, which was founded in 1909. McGhee served as its chief legal officer. In 1912, DuBois gave McGhee credit for creating the Niagara Movement, stating:
"The honor of founding the organization belongs to F. L. McGhee, who first suggested it."
Political activity
McGhee was initially a supporter of the
Republican Party like most African Americans at the time. In the Spring of 1892, he was chosen to be a presidential elector by the
Minnesota Republican Party
The Republican Party of Minnesota is the oldest active political party in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The Minnesota Republican Party’s platform is relatively moderate. The party’s main issues are economic growth, education, healthcare, civi ...
. However, Scandinavian Republicans objected to his appointment, and he was replaced before the start of the
1892 Republican National Convention
The 1892 Republican National Convention was held at the Industrial Exposition Building, Minneapolis, Minnesota, from June 7 to June 10, 1892. The party nominated President Benjamin Harrison for re-election on the first ballot and Whitelaw Reid o ...
, which was held in
Minneapolis
Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...
in June.
Frustrated and offended by this snub, McGhee changed his allegiance to the
Democratic Party in 1893. In doing so, McGhee became one of the first nationally prominent black Democrats, and became a leader in the Negro National Democratic League. McGhee strongly criticized the
imperialist
Imperialism is the state policy, practice, or advocacy of extending power and dominion, especially by direct territorial acquisition or by gaining political and economic control of other areas, often through employing hard power (economic and ...
views of Republican President
William McKinley
William McKinley (January 29, 1843September 14, 1901) was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until his assassination in 1901. As a politician he led a realignment that made his Republican Party largely dominant in ...
. McGhee signed onto a letter denouncing McKinley and endorsing Democrat
William Jennings Bryan
William Jennings Bryan (March 19, 1860 – July 26, 1925) was an American lawyer, orator and politician. Beginning in 1896, he emerged as a dominant force in the Democratic Party, running three times as the party's nominee for President ...
in the
1900 presidential election, which stated:
"We hold that the policy known as imperialism is hostile to liberty and leans toward the destruction of government by the people themselves. We insist that the subjugation of any people is "criminal aggression" and is a pronounced departure from the first principles taught and declared by Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
, Lincoln
Lincoln most commonly refers to:
* Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States
* Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England
* Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S.
* Lincol ...
, Jefferson, and all the great statesmen who have guided the country through as many dangers of the past. Whether the people who will be affected by such policy be or consider themselves Negroes, nor yet because the majority of them are black, is of but little moment. They are by nature entitled to liberty and freedom. We being an oppressed people, to use the words of Daniel O'Connell, should be "the loudest in our protestations against the oppression of others."
Religious views
After moving to
Saint Paul
Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...
, McGhee converted from Baptism to
Catholicism
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
at a time when the vast majority of African Americans were Protestants. McGhee admired Archbishop
John Ireland
John Benjamin Ireland (January 30, 1914 – March 21, 1992) was a Canadian actor. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance in ''All the King's Men'' (1949), making him the first Vancouver-born actor to receive an Oscar nomin ...
's anti-racist views.
McGhee joined Ireland in the founding of St Peter Claver Catholic Church, a parish in Saint Paul which exists to this day. McGhee later participated in the
Colored Catholic Congress
The Colored Catholic Congress movement was a series of meetings organized by Daniel Rudd in the late 19th and early 20th centuries for African-American Catholics to discuss issues affecting their communities, churches, and other institutions.
P ...
es led by
Daniel Rudd
Daniel Arthur Rudd (August 7, 1854December 3, 1933) was a Black Catholic journalist and early Civil Rights leader.
He is known for starting in 1885 what has been called "the first newspaper printed by and for Black Americans", the ''Ohio Tribune ...
.
Paragraph
McGhee died in 1912, at age 50, of complications from a blood clot. He is buried, with his wife and daughter, in Calvary Cemetery in St. Paul. McGhee was honored by his friend Du Bois, who wrote in an obituary for McGhee:
"McGhee was not simply a lawyer... He was a staunch advocate of democracy, and because he knew by bitter experience how his own dark face had served as excuse for discouraging him and discriminating unfairly against him, he became especially an advocate of the rights of colored men."
See also
*
List of first minority male lawyers and judges in Minnesota
References
Sources
* Nelson, Paul D. (2002). ''Fredrick L. McGhee: a life on the color line, 1861–1912''. Minnesota Historical Society Press. .
"Fredrick McGhee, lawyer and activist" ''The African American Registry''
ink accessed 2007-04-16''ChickenBones: A Journal for Literary & artistic African-American Themes: Fredrick McGhee (1861-1912), Lawyer and Social Critic'' ink accessed 2007-04-16 ''Find Articles: Fredrick L. McGhee, who remains a relatively unknown civil rights pioneer, was courted by both Booker T. Washington and W. E. B. Du Bois'' ink accessed 2007-04-16br>
McGhee, Fredrick (1861-1912) MNopedia.
Citations
{{DEFAULTSORT:McGhee, Fredrick L.
1861 births
1912 deaths
People from Aberdeen, Mississippi
American civil rights lawyers
Converts to Roman Catholicism from Baptist denominations
Catholics from Mississippi
African-American Catholics
19th-century American lawyers
20th-century American lawyers
African-American activists
Minnesota Republicans
Minnesota Democrats
People from Saint Paul, Minnesota
Catholics from Minnesota
Minnesota lawyers
Knoxville College alumni
Roman Catholic activists