Irvin Charles Mollison
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Irvin Charles Mollison (December 24, 1898 – May 5, 1962) was a
judge A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...
of the United States Customs Court.


Education and career

Born on December 24, 1898, in
Vicksburg, Mississippi Vicksburg is a historic city in Warren County, Mississippi, United States. It is the county seat, and the population at the 2010 census was 23,856. Located on a high bluff on the east bank of the Mississippi River across from Louisiana, Vic ...
, Mollison was the son of Willis E. Mollison, one of the "pioneering African-American lawyers in Mississippi." Mollison received a Bachelor of Philosophy degree in 1920 from the
University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...
, graduating
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 ...
. He received a
Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...
in 1923 from the
University of Chicago Law School The University of Chicago Law School is the law school of the University of Chicago, a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. It is consistently ranked among the best and most prestigious law schools in the world, and has many dist ...
. He then worked in private practice in
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
,
Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...
from 1923 to 1945. Mollison successfully argued before the
U. S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
in the landmark case of
Hansberry v. Lee __NOTOC__ ''Hansberry v. Lee'', 311 U.S. 32 (1940), is a famous and commonly-used case in civil procedure classes for teaching that ''res judicata'' does not apply to an individual whose interests were not adequately represented in a prior class ac ...
. Mollison represented Israel Katz, one of the defendants who had signed the restrictive covenant (thinking it was a petition for neighborhood improvement). Mollison was a leader in a variety of civic and professional organizations in Chicago. He was the President of the Illinois
NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.&nb ...
in the late 1930s. From 1938 to 41 and 1945 to 48, Mollison served on the Board of Directors for the Chicago Public Library. In 1944, Mollison became the only black director of the
Chicago Board of Education The Chicago Board of Education serves as the board of education (school board) for the Chicago Public Schools. The board traces its origins to the Board of School Inspectors, created in 1837. The board is currently appointed solely by the mayor ...
. In 1944 and 1945, Mollison was a member of the Board of Directors for the Chicago Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild. In addition, Mollison was a member of the
Cook County Bar Association The Cook County Bar Association (CCBA), the nation's oldest association of African-American lawyers and judges, was founded in Illinois in 1914. Arkansas attorney Lloyd G. Wheeler, moved to Illinois in 1869 to practice law and he, along with 31 o ...
, Illinois State Bar Association, and the National Bar Association.


Federal judicial service

Mollison was nominated by President
Harry S. Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. A leader of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 34th vice president from January to April 1945 under Franklin ...
on October 3, 1945, to a seat on the United States Customs Court vacated by Judge Thomas Joseph Walker. He was confirmed by the
United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...
on October 26, 1945, without a single dissenting vote. He received his commission on October 29, 1945. Mollison was the first African American to serve on the United States Customs Court. Mollison was initially appointed as a Judge under
Article I Article One may refer to: Legal codes * Article One of the United States Constitution, pertaining to the powers of the United States Congress * Article One of the Constitution of India, pertaining to the federal nature of the republic Other us ...
, but the court was raised to Article III status by
operation of law The phrase "by operation of law" is a legal term that indicates that a right or liability has been created for a party, irrespective of the intent of that party, because it is dictated by existing legal principles. For example, if a person dies wi ...
on July 14, 1956, and Mollison thereafter served as an Article III Judge. His service terminated on May 5, 1962, due to his death in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
.


See also

* List of African-American federal judges * List of African-American jurists


References


External links

*
Just The Beginning Foundation, Irvin C. Mollison

Library of Congress, Irvin C. Mollison
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mollison, Irven Charles 1898 births 1962 deaths 20th-century American judges Judges of the United States Customs Court Members of the Chicago Board of Education People from Vicksburg, Mississippi United States Article I federal judges appointed by Harry S. Truman University of Chicago alumni University of Chicago Law School alumni