Ralph Delano Cook (born April 29, 1944) was a justice of the

Supreme Court of Alabama The Supreme Court of Alabama is the highest court in the state of Alabama. The court consists of a chief justice and eight associate justices. Each justice is elected in partisan elections for staggered six-year terms. The Supreme Court is house ...

from 1993 to 2001. Governor

Jim Folsom James Elisha Folsom, Sr. (October 9, 1908 – November 21, 1987), commonly known as Jim Folsom or Big Jim Folsom, was an American politician who served as the 42nd governor of the U.S. state of Alabama, having served from 1947 to 1951, and a ...

appointed Cook to finish the term of

Oscar Adams Oscar William Adams, Jr. (February 7, 1925 – February 15, 1997) was the first African-American Alabama Supreme Court justice and the first African American elected to statewide office in Alabama (including the Reconstruction era). Early l ...

upon Adams' retirement.

Early life, education, and career

Raised in

Jefferson County, Alabama Jefferson County is the List of counties in Alabama, most populous county in the U.S. state of Alabama, located in the central portion of the state. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 674,721. Its county seat i ...

, Cook was "the second of three children of Joe and Nannie Cook", who owned and operated a cleaning service in Bessemer."Justices have much in common", ''The Montgomery Advertiser'' (October 31, 1993), p. 1B, 6B. Cook received his

B.S. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University ...

from

Tennessee State University Tennessee State University (Tennessee State, Tenn State, or TSU) is a public historically black land-grant university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1912, it is the only state-funded historically black university in Tenness ...

and his J.D. from

Howard University School of Law Howard University School of Law (Howard Law or HUSL) is the law school of Howard University, a private, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is one of the oldest law schools in the country and the oldes ...

. He thereafter moved to California, where he taught at

San Jose State University San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a public university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State University (CSU) sys ...

and at

Cabrillo College Cabrillo College is a public community college in Aptos, California. It is named after the conquistador Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo and opened in 1959. Cabrillo College has an enrollment of about 12,000 students per term. Facilities Classes are of ...

. He was an administrative analyst for the city of

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and Emer ...

, from 1971 to 1973, leaving at the end of 1973 to take a position as a deputy district attorney in Alabama. After returning to Alabama, he also taught at

Miles Law School Miles Law School is a law school located in Birmingham, Alabama. It is independent of Miles College. Miles Law School was founded on August 26, 1974. Among the founders were Bishop C. A. Kirkendoll of the C.M.E. Church, Dr. W. Clyde Williams, ...

, and was named the

dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...

of the law school in September 1976, serving in that capacity until 1990.

Judicial career

Cook was the first black person to be elected to a state district judgeship in

, the largest county in the state,Phillip Rawls, "Ralph Cook becomes second black on state Supreme Court", ''Birmingham Post-Herald'' (November 2, 1993), p. D4. where he served for four and a half years. He thereafter became the first black person to be elected to the circuit court for the same county. Cook was sworn in as a justice of the state supreme court in November 1993. In November 1994, Cook, running as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

defeated

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

challenger Mark Montiel to win election to a full term on the court. In his 2000 bid for reelection to the court, however, Cook was defeated by Republican challenger Lyn Stuart.

Personal life

Cook married Charlsie Davis, also of Jefferson County, with whom he had two daughters and a son.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cook, Ralph 1944 births Living people People from Jefferson County, Alabama Deans of law schools in the United States Justices of the Supreme Court of Alabama African-American judges Tennessee State University alumni Howard University School of Law alumni Alabama Democrats American university and college faculty deans African-American academic administrators 21st-century American judges 20th-century American judges