Graham Turner Perry (April 22, 1894 – September 9, 1960) was an African-American attorney who served as assistant attorney general for the State of Illinois. He is also the father of stage director

Shauneille Perry Shauneille Gantt Perry Ryder (July 26, 1929 – June 9, 2022) was an American stage director and playwright. She was one of the first African-American women to direct off-Broadway. Biography Shauneille Perry was born on July 26, 1929, in Chicag ...

and uncle of playwright

Lorraine Hansberry Lorraine Vivian Hansberry (May 19, 1930 – January 12, 1965) was a playwright and writer. She was the first African-American female author to have a play performed on Broadway. Her best-known work, the play ''A Raisin in the Sun'', highli ...

Biography

According to the 1900 U.S. Census, Perry was born in April 1894 (some sources indicate either April 22, 1897, January 22, 1898 or April 22, 1900) in Columbia, Tennessee, the youngest child of the Rev. George W. Perry, an escaped former slave, and Charlotte "Lottie" Organ. He received his elementary and secondary school education in Columbia. After graduating from College Hill School, he later attended Morehouse College in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...

. At Morehouse, Perry was a well-rounded student who in addition to the being a member of the debate team, played varsity baseball, sang in the Glee Club, served as assistant advertising manager of the school yearbook, and was a Shakespearean actor who appeared in a production of '' Othello.'' He was also a member of Omega Psi Phi fraternity. In 1923, he received the degree of '' juris doctor'' from the

Northwestern University School of Law Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law is the law school of Northwestern University, a private research university. It is located on the university's Chicago campus. Northwestern Law has been ranked among the top 14, or "T14" law s ...

. He was very active in civil rights, having served as vice president of the Chicago branch of the NAACP. He also served on the board of the Chicago branch of the Urban League. In 1941, he was elected to the post of assistant attorney general for the State of Illinois. After Nathan K. McGill, he was one of the first African Americans to hold that position in the state. No African American would serve as a state's attorney general until

Edward Brooke Edward William Brooke III (October 26, 1919 – January 3, 2015) was an American politician of the Republican Party, who represented Massachusetts in the United States Senate from 1967 until 1979. Prior to serving in the Senate, he served as th ...

was elected Attorney General of Massachusetts in 1962. Perry served as an assistant attorney general from 1942 to 1950, and specialized in military and labor-related issues. This included cases involving the reinstatement of veterans to positions they held prior to military service. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, Perry helped enforce anti-discrimination requirements with firms holding war contracts. In January 1948, he was chosen by the Republican party as a candidate for judge in Chicago's Municipal court. Despite a strong showing by U.S. presidential candidate

Thomas E. Dewey Thomas Edmund Dewey (March 24, 1902 – March 16, 1971) was an American lawyer, prosecutor, and politician who served as the 47th governor of New York from 1943 to 1954. He was the Republican candidate for president in 1944 and 1948: although ...

at the top of the ticket, the Chicago Democrats had a clean sweep of the local election in November of that year. Perry received a total of 638,689 votes and tied for twenty-first place out of 33 candidates for twelve positions. In 1953, Perry was appointed assistant United States attorney to handle cases involving military conscientious objectors. He was working in a similar capacity for the northern district of Illinois at the time of his death. He died on September 9, 1960, at his home in Chicago. and is buried at the

Burr Oak Cemetery Burr Oak Cemetery is a cemetery located in Alsip, Illinois, United States, a suburb southwest of Chicago, Illinois. Established in 1927, Burr Oak was one of the few early Chicago cemeteries focused on the needs of the African-American community, ...

near Chicago.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perry, Graham T. 1894 births 1960 deaths Illinois Republicans NAACP activists Lawyers from Chicago People from Columbia, Tennessee Morehouse College alumni Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law alumni African-American activists 20th-century American lawyers Burials at Burr Oak Cemetery 20th-century African-American lawyers