Walter Arthur Gordon (October 10, 1894 – April 2, 1976) was the first African American to receive a JD from

University of California, Berkeley School of Law The University of California, Berkeley, School of Law (commonly known as Berkeley Law or UC Berkeley School of Law) is the law school of the University of California, Berkeley, a public research university in Berkeley, California. It is one of 1 ...

. He had an extremely long and varied career where he served as a police officer, lawyer, assistant

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

coach, member of the California Adult Authority,

Governor of the United States Virgin Islands The governor of the United States Virgin Islands is the head of government of the United States Virgin Islands whose responsibilities also include making the annual State of the Territory addresses to the Legislature of the Virgin Islands, Virgi ...

, and a Federal District Judge.

Early life and education

Gordon was born 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 498,715 ...

, though his family moved to

Riverside, California Riverside is a city in and the county seat of Riverside County, California, United States, in the Inland Empire metropolitan area. It is named for its location beside the Santa Ana River. It is the most populous city in the Inland Empire an ...

in 1904. He graduated from

Riverside Polytechnic High School Riverside Polytechnic High School is a four-year public high school in Riverside, California, United States, and part of the Riverside Unified School District. The current facility, located on Victoria Avenue, was opened in September 1965; the t ...

before enrolling in the University of California, Berkeley, where he lettered in

(as a lineman for the

California Golden Bears The California Golden Bears are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Berkeley. Referred to in athletic competition as ''California'' or ''Cal'', the university fields 30 varsity athletic programs and various club te ...

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...

, and

wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

. Gordon was the star of Cal's boxing team, winning the California State Championship. He was the star of Cal's wrestling team, winning the California State Championship in that sport as well. He was also a star on college football Hall of Fame coach Andy Smith's early Cal football teams, playing on both the offensive and defensive lines. In fact, during his Cal football career, at one time or another he played every position on both lines except center. At 6'0" and 200 pounds, he was one of the biggest men on the team, but with tremendous quickness, and an instinct for knowing where to be on the field. He was a member of

Alpha Phi Alpha Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. () is the oldest intercollegiate historically African American fraternity. It was initially a literary and social studies club organized in the 1905–1906 school year at Cornell University but later evolved int ...

fraternity. He was also a founding member of the Alpha Epsilon chapter at

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

. In 1918 he became one of the first two African-American

All-Americans The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

(the first was

Paul Robeson Paul Leroy Robeson ( ; April 9, 1898 – January 23, 1976) was an American bass-baritone concert artist, stage and film actor, professional football player, and activist who became famous both for his cultural accomplishments and for his p ...

). He was later named to the

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were vote ...

. He graduated in 1918 and enrolled in

Boalt Hall The University of California, Berkeley, School of Law (commonly known as Berkeley Law or UC Berkeley School of Law) is the law school of the University of California, Berkeley, a public research university in Berkeley, California. It is one of ...

to study law. He married Mary Elizabeth Fisher on July 22, 1920 and received his law degree in 1922.

Careers in California

In 1919, Gordon began two of his careers: he was hired as a scout and part-time assistant coach of the Golden Bears and joined the police force in

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 ...

. In 1922, he began his third career and opened a law office in

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

. He continued all three jobs until 1930, when he retired from the police force. He was branch president of the Berkeley

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 1930s. During the

Zoot Suit Riots The Zoot Suit Riots were a series of riots that took place from June 3–8, 1943 in Los Angeles, California, United States, involving American servicemen stationed in Southern California and young Latino and Mexican American city resident ...

of Los Angeles in 1943 there were clashes between Mexican American youths and servicemen. Governor Earl Warren sent a team, headed by Walter Gordon, to Los Angeles to evaluate the conflict. Later in 1943, he retired as the assistant coach to join the California Adult Authority, that state's

parole board A parole board is a panel of people who decide whether an offender should be released from prison on parole after serving at least a minimum portion of their sentence as prescribed by the sentencing judge. Parole boards are used in many jurisdiction ...

, and eventually became chairman, serving for nine years. In 1944, he retired from law.

Careers in the United States Virgin Islands

In 1955, while still working for the Adult Authority, he was appointed

. That same year, he was named as UC Berkeley

alumnus Alumni (singular: alumnus (masculine) or alumna (feminine)) are former students of a school, college, or university who have either attended or graduated in some fashion from the institution. The feminine plural alumnae is sometimes used for grou ...

of the year and received the Benjamin Ide Wheeler Medal.''Benjamin Ide Wheeler Medal''
Retrieved 2018-07-31 In 1958, he resigned as Governor to take an appointment as a Federal Judge of the District Court of the Virgin Islands, where he served for 10 years.

References

* * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Gordon, Walter A. 1894 births 1976 deaths 20th-century American politicians 20th-century American judges African-American judges African-American lawyers African-American people in California politics African-American police officers American football guards 20th-century American lawyers American municipal police officers California Golden Bears football coaches California Golden Bears football players California lawyers Coaches of American football from Georgia (U.S. state) Georgia (U.S. state) lawyers Governors of the United States Virgin Islands Judges of the United States District Court of the Virgin Islands Lawyers from Berkeley, California Lawyers from Riverside, California Players of American football from Georgia (U.S. state) Politicians from Atlanta Politicians from Berkeley, California UC Berkeley School of Law alumni 20th-century African-American politicians African-American men in politics