The National Bar Association (NBA) was founded in 1925 and is the nation's oldest and largest national network of predominantly

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

attorneys and judges. It represents the interests of approximately 65,000 lawyers, judges, law professors, and law students. The NBA is organized around 23 substantive law sections, 9 divisions, 12 regions, and 80 affiliate chapters throughout the United States and around the world. The current and 75th president is Juan R. Thomas of Aurora, Illinois.

Structure and activities

The National Bar Association (NBA) is governed by a Board of Governors, mostly elected from the membership but also including NBA's officers and representatives of groups such as the NBA's Divisions. The National Bar Association Young Lawyers Division, chaired by Khyla Craine, represents the new members of the legal profession, and membership is open to NBA members who have been admitted to practice for less than 10 years or are under 40 years old. The association has several affiliate chapters located throughout the United States, including The Cook County Bar Association,

The Barristers' Association of Philadelphia The Barristers' Association of Philadelphia, Incorporated is a minority bar association located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, which represents African-American attorneys. The association was established in 1950. The Barristers' Association of ...

, the California Association of Black Lawyers, the

Washington Bar Association The Washington Bar Association (WBA) is a voluntary bar association located in the Washington, District of Columbia area, whose members are predominantly African-American attorneys. The Washington Bar Association was founded in 1925 by a group o ...

, the Virgil Hawkins Florida Chapter National Bar Association, the Garden State Bar Association and the

Metropolitan Black Bar Association The Metropolitan Black Bar Association (MBBA) is an association of African-American and other minority attorneys in New York City. As of 2012-2013, the president is Nadine Fontaine. History The MBBA was founded on July 5, 1984, replacing two pree ...

. The National Bar Institute (NBI) is the philanthropic arm of the NBA, founded in 1982. The association has established an annual award in honor of the late Louisiana State Representative Pinkie C. Wilkerson of

Grambling Grambling State University (GSU, Grambling, or Grambling State) is a public historically black university in Grambling, Louisiana. Grambling State is home of the Eddie G. Robinson Museum and is listed on the Louisiana African American Heritag ...

—the "Pinkie C. Wilkerson Outstanding State Legislator of the Year Award". The NBA offers a job listing service as well as advertising in its magazine to assist employers seeking to conduct affirmative action outreach toward minority job applicants.

History

The National Bar Association was established in 1925 as the "Negro Bar Association" after

Gertrude Rush Gertrude Elzora Durden Rush (August 5, 1880 – September 5, 1962) was the first African-American female lawyer in Iowa, admitted to the Iowa bar in 1918.J. Clay Smith, Jr., Thurgood Marshall (1999). ''Emancipation: The Making of the Black Lawyer, ...

, George H. Woodson, S. Joe Brown, James B. Morris, and

Charles P. Howard, Sr. Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was " ...

, were denied membership in the

American Bar Association The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. Founded in 1878, the ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of acad ...

. The young

Charles Hamilton Houston Charles Hamilton Houston (September 3, 1895 – April 22, 1950) was a prominent African-American lawyer, Dean of Howard University Law School, and NAACP first special counsel, or Litigation Director. A graduate of Amherst College and Harvard Law ...

, future dean of

Howard University Law School 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 old ...

, also helped with the founding.NAACP History: "Charles Hamilton Houston"
, NAACP; accessed 14 May 2017 Its first president was George H. Woodson of

Des Moines Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines, ...

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

. Arnette Hubbard became the NBA's first female president in 1981. In 1940, the NBA attempted to establish "free legal clinics in all cities with a colored population of 5,000 or more." Its members supported litigation that achieved a US Supreme Court ruling that defendants had to be provided with legal counsel. In 2010, the NBA partnered with the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...

to work toward a complete and accurate count of the nation's population through various outreach activities.

Affiliates

Alabama

* Birmingham: Brazil Bar Association * Montgomery: Alabama Lawyers Association

Arkansas

* Little Rock: W. Harold Flowers Society

California

* Los Angeles: Black Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles * Los Angeles: John M. Langston Bar Association * Mill Valley: CA Association of Black Lawyers * Oakland: Charles Houston Bar Association * Sacramento: Wiley M. Manuel Bar Association * San Diego: Earl B. Gilliam Bar Association * Santa Clara: Black Women Lawyers Association of Northern CA

District of Columbia

* Washington: Morocco * Washington: Washington Bar Association * Washington: GWAC

Delaware

* Wilmington: Delaware Barristers Association

Florida

* Apopka: Virgil Hawkins Florida Chapter

Georgia

* Atlanta: Georgia Association of Black Women Attorneys * Atlanta: Gate City Bar Association * Carrollton

Illinois

* Chicago: Cook County Bar Association

Indiana

* Indianapolis: Marion County Bar Association

Kentucky

* Lexington: John Rowe Chapter * Louisville: Louisville Black Lawyers Association

Louisiana

* Baton Rouge: Louis A. Martinet – Baton Rouge

Massachusetts

* Boston: Mass. Black Lawyers Association

Maryland

* Baltimore: Alliance of Black Women Attorneys * Baltimore: Monumental City Bar Association * Greenbelt: J. Franklyn Bourne Bar Association

Michigan

* Detroit: Wolverine Bar Association * Lansing: Davis-Dunning Affiliate Chapter * Troy: D. Augustus Straker Bar Association

Minnesota

* Minneapolis: Minnesota Association of Black Lawyers

Missouri

* Kansas City: Jackson County Bar Association * St. Louis: Mound City Bar Association ()

Mississippi

* Jackson: Magnolia Bar Association

New Jersey

* Trenton: Garden State Bar Association

New Mexico

* Albuquerque: New Mexico Black Lawyers Association

Nevada

* Las Vegas: Las Vegas Chapter

New York

* New York: Metropolitan Black Bar Association * New York: Association of Black Women Attorneys * Rochester: Rochester Black Bar Association * Wheatley Heights: Amistad Long Island Black Bar

Ohio

* Cincinnati: Black Lawyers Association of Cincinnati * Cleveland: Norman S. Minor Bar Association * Columbus: John Mercer Langston Bar Association

Pennsylvania

* Philadelphia: Barristers Association of Philadelphia

Tennessee

* Memphis: Ben F. Jones Chapter * Nashville: Napier-Looby Chapter

Texas

* Austin: Austin Black Lawyers Association * Dallas: J.L. Turner Legal Association * Dallas: AA Lawyers of TX State Bar * Fort Worth: L. Clifford Davis Legal Association * Houston: Houston Lawyers Association

Virginia

* Richmond: Old Dominion Bar Association

Washington

* Seattle: Loren Miller Bar Associationlmba.net

References

External links

Official page
{{Authority control American bar associations African-American professional organizations Organizations established in 1925 1925 establishments in the United States