Lila Althea Fenwick (May 24, 1932 – April 4, 2020) was an American lawyer, human rights advocate, and

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

official. She was the first black woman to graduate from Harvard Law School.

Early life and education

Fenwick was born in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, on May 24, 1932. Her parents, John and Hilda Fenwick, were immigrants to the United States from

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

. She earned a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in history from

Barnard College Barnard College of Columbia University is a private women's liberal arts college in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a group of women led by young student activist Annie Nathan Meyer, who petitioned Columbia ...

in 1953, before enrolling at Harvard Law School. A student in the class of 1956, Fenwick matriculated into the school's fourth class that admitted women. She then continued her studies at the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is a public university, public research university located in London, England and a constituent college of the federal University of London. Founded in 1895 by Fabian Society members Sidn ...

Career

During her career, Fenwick was a private practice lawyer in the

Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

, and chief of the U.N. Human Rights Section, focused on indigenous peoples, migration, gender, race, and religious discrimination issues. She retired from the United Nations in 1973, before her section's headquarters moved to

Geneva , neighboring_municipalities= Carouge, Chêne-Bougeries, Cologny, Lancy, Grand-Saconnex, Pregny-Chambésy, Vernier, Veyrier , website = https://www.geneve.ch/ Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevr ...

. She also co-founded the Foundation for Research and Education in Sickle Cell Disease with Doris Wethers and Yvette Fay Francis-McBarnette. Harvard's Black Law Students Association offers a Ruffin-Fenwick Trailblazer Award, named for Fenwick and for

George Lewis Ruffin George Lewis Ruffin (December 16, 1834 – November 19, 1886) was a barber, attorney, politician and judge. In 1869 he graduated from Harvard Law School, the first African American to do so. He was also the first African American elected to the ...

Personal life

Fenwick died at her home in Manhattan on April 4, 2020, from complications of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

, at the age of 87.

References

1932 births 2020 deaths United Nations officials New York (state) lawyers Alumni of the London School of Economics Harvard Law School alumni Barnard College alumni American people of Trinidad and Tobago descent American expatriates in England Lawyers from New York City People from Manhattan Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in New York (state) American women lawyers American lawyers {{authority control