Raymond Pace Alexander (October 13, 1897 – November 24, 1974) was an American

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life ...

leader, lawyer, politician, and the first

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

judge appointed to the Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas. Born and raised in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

, in 1920 he became the first

black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ha ...

graduate of the

Wharton School of Business The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania ( ; also known as Wharton Business School, the Wharton School, Penn Wharton, and Wharton) is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university ...

. After graduation from

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each c ...

in 1923, Alexander became one of the leading civil rights attorneys in Philadelphia. He gained prominence as a black lawyer willing to fight for equal rights in the Berwyn desegregation case and represented black defendants in other high-profile cases, including the

Trenton Six The Trenton Six is the group name for six African-American defendants tried for murder of an elderly white shopkeeper in January 1948 in Trenton, New Jersey. The six young men were convicted in August 1948 by an all-white jury of the murder and ...

, a group of black men arrested for murder in

Trenton, New Jersey Trenton is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. It was the capital of the United States from November 1 to December 24, 1784.Harry S. Truman for a seat on the

United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (in case citations, 3d Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts for the following districts: * District of Delaware * District of New Jersey * East ...

. He finally won a seat on the

Philadelphia City Council The Philadelphia City Council, the legislative body of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, consists of ten members elected by district and seven members elected at-large. The council president is elected by the members from among their number. Each ...

in 1951. After two terms on the city council, Alexander was appointed to a seat on the Court of Common Pleas and was re-elected to a ten-year term as a judge in 1959. He continued to work for racial equality throughout his time in the municipal government. Alexander assumed senior status at mandatory retirement age in 1969 and died in 1974. His legacy is honored by a professorship at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest- ...

Early life and education

Boys-Central-High-School-Broad-and-Green-Streets-Philadelphia-PA-800x513

Alexander was born into a working-class

family in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, on October 13, 1897. His parents, like many African Americans in the 1860s and 1870s, had left the rural South looking for economic opportunities and an escape from the violence that accompanied the

Jim Crow The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws enforcing racial segregation in the Southern United States. Other areas of the United States were affected by formal and informal policies of segregation as well, but many states outside the Sou ...

segregation system in place there. His father, Hillard Boone Alexander, was born a slave in

Mecklenburg County, Virginia Mecklenburg County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 30,319. Its county seat is Boydton. History Mecklenburg County was organized on March 1, 1765, having split from Lunenburg County in ...

, and was the son of the plantation owner. He migrated to Philadelphia with his brother, Samuel, in 1880. That same year, Raymond's mother, Virginia Pace, also migrated to Philadelphia with her brother, John Schollie Pace; they had been born slaves in

Essex County, Virginia Essex County is a county located in the Middle Peninsula in the U.S. state of Virginia; the peninsula is bordered by the Rappahannock River on the north and King and Queen County on the south. As of the 2020 census, the population was 10,599. ...

. Hillard and Virginia married in Philadelphia in 1882. The family, like most of the city's black population, lived in the Seventh Ward in what is called

Center City, Philadelphia Center City includes the central business district and central neighborhoods of Philadelphia. It comprises the area that made up the City of Philadelphia prior to the Act of Consolidation, 1854, which extended the city borders to be coterminous wi ...

today.

W. E. B. Du Bois William Edward Burghardt Du Bois ( ; February 23, 1868 – August 27, 1963) was an American-Ghanaian sociologist, socialist, historian, and Pan-Africanist civil rights activist. Born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, Du Bois grew up i ...

called the area in which the Alexanders lived the "fair and comfortable" part of the neighborhood. Alexander's father and uncle were "riding masters" who gave horseback riding lessons to wealthy white people in Philadelphia and its suburbs along the Main Line, but by 1915 the emergence of the automobile era led the business to decline and ultimately fail. Raymond Pace Alexander 1920

In 1909, Alexander's mother died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severit ...

. Although Alexander immediately began working to help support the family, his father felt unable to provide adequate care for the children and sent Alexander and his three siblings (including his sister

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are ...

) to live with their aunt and uncle, Georgia and John Pace, in a growing black community in

North Philadelphia North Philadelphia, nicknamed North Philly, is a section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is immediately north of Center City. Though the full extent of the region is somewhat vague, "North Philadelphia" is regarded as everything north of either ...

. The Paces were a working-class family as well, and so with even more mouths to feed, Alexander continued working through grade school and high school to help support himself and his siblings. Jobs he held during those years included working on the docks unloading fish, selling newspapers, and owning a

bootblack Shoeshiner or boot polisher is an occupation in which a person cleans and buffs shoes and then applies a waxy paste to give a shiny appearance and a protective coating. They are often known as shoeshine boys because the job was traditionally d ...

stand where he worked six days per week. Alexander also worked at the Metropolitan Opera House in North Philadelphia for six years, beginning when he was 16 years old. Later, looking back on his time at the Opera House, Alexander said that it had "opened a new world for me", and he credited that environment with giving him "some of the smoothness and culture which characterizes my later years". Alexander attended Central High School and graduated in 1917, delivering a speech "The Future of the American Negro", at the commencement ceremony. He enrolled at the

on a merit scholarship and became the first black graduate of the

in 1920. He then enrolled at

. While there, Alexander earned a living by working as a teaching assistant during the school year. In the summers, he took classes for a master's degree in political science at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

, though he did not finish the degree. At Columbia, Alexander supported himself by working as a

porter Porter may refer to: Companies * Porter Airlines, Canadian regional airline based in Toronto * Porter Chemical Company, a defunct U.S. toy manufacturer of chemistry sets * Porter Motor Company, defunct U.S. car manufacturer * H.K. Porter, Inc., ...

for the

Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad The Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad (also known as the DL&W or Lackawanna Railroad) was a U.S. Class 1 railroad that connected Buffalo, New York, and Hoboken, New Jersey (and by ferry with New York City), a distance of . Incorporated in ...

. While still in law school, Alexander brought his first discrimination lawsuit, suing

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylv ...

for refusing him entry on account of his race, a violation of New York's equal rights law. As he was not yet admitted to the

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar ( ...

, Alexander hired black Harvard Law School graduate attorney James D. McLendon Jr., to represent him.

Legal career

Alexander graduated from Harvard Law in 1923. That same year, he married his former Penn classmate

Sadie Tanner Mossell Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander (January 2, 1898 – November 1, 1989), was a pioneering Black professional and civil rights activist of the early-to-mid-20th century. In 1921, Mossell Alexander was the first African-American to receive a Ph.D. i ...

. Mossell was the granddaughter of Benjamin Tucker Tanner and in 1927 became the first black woman to earn a law degree from the

. They had two daughters, Rae and Mary. He passed the Pennsylvania bar exam in 1923, becoming one of a few black lawyers in the state. Despite his credentials, Alexander had difficulty finding a job in Philadelphia after graduation. Ultimately, he took a position in the law office of John R. K. Scott, a white Republican former congressman with a small office in the city. Shortly thereafter, he opened his own office with a focus on representing black people. He soon rose to prominence in Philadelphia's black community. In 1924, he represented Louise Thomas, a black woman accused of murdering a black policeman. After she was convicted and

sentenced to death Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

, Alexander secured her a new trial. In a new trial before the same judge, Thomas was found not guilty, which Alexander's biographer, David A. Canton, described as "a landmark in Pennsylvania legal history". That same year, he filed an anti-discrimination lawsuit against a movie theater owner in Philadelphia who refused admission to black ticketholders. He lost the case, but it nonetheless raised his profile as a black lawyer willing to fight for equal rights. Around this time, Alexander began to identify with the black intellectual "

New Negro "New Negro" is a term popularized during the Harlem Renaissance implying a more outspoken advocacy of dignity and a refusal to submit quietly to the practices and laws of Jim Crow racial segregation. The term "New Negro" was made popular by Alai ...

" movement, which advocated self-help, racial pride, and protest against injustice. He also joined the

National Bar Association The National Bar Association (NBA) was founded in 1925 and is the nation's oldest and largest national network of predominantly African-American attorneys and judges. It represents the interests of approximately 65,000 lawyers, judges, law profess ...

(NBA), an association of black lawyers that had formed when its founding members 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 aca ...

. Through the NBA, Alexander began to use political protest as well as legal action in the struggle for equal rights. His firm, which now included his wife and Maceo W. Hubbard, relocated to a new building at 19th and Chestnut Streets.

Berwyn desegregation case

In 1932, Alexander became involved with efforts to desegregate the schools in

Berwyn, Pennsylvania Berwyn is a census-designated place (CDP) in Chester County, Pennsylvania. The population was 3,775 at the 2020 census. The area is part of the Philadelphia Main Line suburbs. History At times, the village has been called Cocheltown, Reesevi ...

, a suburb of Philadelphia. After Easttown Township built a new elementary school, neighboring Tredyffrin Township closed its school and paid to send its students to Easttown (the Berwyn region included parts of both townships). Easttown converted its old (and smaller) school building into one "for the instruction of certain people", which in practice meant all black students in the district, segregating the previously integrated schools. As a result, 212 African American students began to boycott the public schools. The families hired Alexander to press the issue in court. With the assistance of the

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People 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.& ...

(NAACP), Alexander negotiated with the school board, attempting to end the boycott, but the stalemate continued into 1933. Tensions increased as the

state Attorney General The state attorney general in each of the 50 U.S. states, of the federal district, or of any of the territories is the chief legal advisor to the state government and the state's chief law enforcement officer. In some states, the attorney gener ...

William A. Schnader William A. Schnader (October 5, 1886March 18, 1968) was Attorney General of Pennsylvania and co-founder of the law firm Schnader, Harrison, Segal & Lewis. Schnader graduated from Franklin & Marshall College in 1908. After earning a law degree ...

, ordered the black parents prosecuted for refusing to send their children to school. Some refused to pay bail and stayed in prison as a protest. Alexander approved of the strategy, while the NAACP thought it too confrontational; they also objected to Alexander's acceptance of help from International Labor Defense lawyers, fearing association with the far-left group. RPAoffice2017

As the boycott dragged on into 1934, groups organized protest marches in Philadelphia. Schnader, now running for governor, promised to find a solution. Alexander and others credited Schnader's newfound support for their campaign to his recognition of the growing influence of black voters in Pennsylvania. By June, the school board agreed to allow students to be admitted to the two schools on a race-neutral basis, and the parents ended their boycott. The following year, the state passed a strengthened equal rights bill that covered all public accommodations, including schools, and allowed private lawyers to sue segregated businesses. It was introduced by state representative Hobson R. Reynolds, a black Republican from Philadelphia.

Growing prestige

Alexander rose to national prominence in the black legal community after the Berwyn case, and he began to speak around the country at NBA events, serving as the organization's president from 1933 to 1935. In 1942, he represented Thomas Mattox, a black teenager, as Mattox fought extradition to

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

where he was accused of assaulting a white man. Alexander argued that Mattox would not receive a

fair trial A fair (archaic: faire or fayre) is a gathering of people for a variety of entertainment or commercial activities. Fairs are typically temporary with scheduled times lasting from an afternoon to several weeks. Types Variations of fairs incl ...

in the South, and the judge agreed, quashing the extradition attempt. He also represented Corrine Sykes, a 23-year-old black maid who was charged with murdering her white employer. This time, Alexander was unsuccessful, as the jury disregarded his arguments that Sykes was mentally impaired and found her guilty. After appeals to the

Supreme Court of the United States 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 tribunals in the United States, federal court cases, and over Stat ...

were denied, Sykes was executed in 1946.

Trenton Six

In 1948, Alexander became involved with the case of the

, a group of black men arrested in Trenton, New Jersey, accused of robbery and murder. Trenton police induced confessions from five of the six, and all were convicted by an

all-white jury Racial discrimination in jury selection is specifically prohibited by law in many jurisdictions throughout the world. In the United States, it has been defined through a series of judicial decisions. However, juries composed solely of one racial ...

and sentenced to death. The

Civil Rights Congress The Civil Rights Congress (CRC) was a United States civil rights organization, formed in 1946 at a national conference for radicals and disbanded in 1956. It succeeded the International Labor Defense, the National Federation for Constitutional ...

(CRC), the legal arm of the

Communist Party USA The Communist Party USA, officially the Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA), is a communist party in the United States which was established in 1919 after a split in the Socialist Party of America following the Russian Rev ...

, represented three of the men during their appeal; the

NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (NAACP LDF, the Legal Defense Fund, or LDF) is a leading United States civil rights organization and law firm based in New York City. LDF is wholly independent and separate from the NAACP. Altho ...

, at the request of their chief counsel,

Thurgood Marshall Thurgood Marshall (July 2, 1908 – January 24, 1993) was an American civil rights lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1967 until 1991. He was the Supreme Court's first African-A ...

, hired Alexander to represent two of the others. In 1949, the

Supreme Court of New Jersey The Supreme Court of New Jersey is the highest court in the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, the Supreme Court of New Jersey is the final judicial authority on all cases in the state court system, including cases challenging th ...

granted the men a new trial but prohibited the CRC from representing any of the defendants because they found that the group had unfairly influenced jury pools through the news media. In the 1951 re-trial, Alexander established that the police had manufactured evidence in order to secure a quick conviction and quiet public concerns about the crime wave then rippling through Trenton. The judge also ruled out the confessions, which were proved to have been coerced. After a lengthy trial, four were acquitted and two convicted, with the jury recommending life imprisonment. Though not a complete victory, Alexander had demonstrated his skill as a lawyer and saved the lives of his clients, while managing to distance himself from the CRC and other communist groups, an important consideration in the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because t ...

atmosphere.

Political and judicial career

Seeking a judicial nomination

By the 1930s, Alexander's civil rights activity led him to become involved in local politics. At that time, Republicans dominated Philadelphia's political scene, and Alexander ran for a seat on the

Court of Common Pleas A court of common pleas is a common kind of court structure found in various common law jurisdictions. The form originated with the Court of Common Pleas at Westminster, which was created to permit individuals to press civil grievances against one ...

as a Republican in 1933, but withdrew before the election, a decision the ''

Philadelphia Tribune ''The Philadelphia Tribune'' is the oldest continuously published African-American newspaper in the United States. The paper began in 1884 when Christopher J. Perry published its first copy. Throughout its history, ''The Philadelphia Tribune' ...

'' reported was due to ill health. He grew frustrated with the Republican party organization, which offered only the lowest-level city

patronage Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and the wealthy have provided to artists su ...

jobs to blacks. Nonetheless, he saw the Republicans as the best chance for African American advancement in the city and lobbied the party leaders to nominate a black lawyer—preferably him—for one of the judicial seats up for election in 1937. He found little support, and lost the primary election to the three party-endorsed candidates: Byron A. Milner, Clare G. Fenerty, and John Robert Jones. This left the Republicans, like the Democrats, with an all-white ticket again in 1937. After the election, Alexander joined many black Americans of the era in shifting his allegiance to the Democratic Party. By 1940, however, Alexander decided that the Democrats were no more likely than the Republicans to elect a black judge and, dissatisfied with the

New Deal The New Deal was a series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1939. Major federal programs agencies included the Civilian Con ...

and the party's lack of action on civil rights causes, he returned to the Republicans. Sadie Alexander had followed her husband's political shift to the Democrats and remained there, and in 1946 President Harry S. Truman appointed her to his Committee on Civil Rights. Alexander rejoined the Democratic Party in 1947 and campaigned for Truman the following year. Following Truman's election, Alexander lobbied to be appointed to a federal district court seat. Around the same time, he was rumored to be among the candidates for a seat on the

, but the position went to

William H. Hastie William Henry Hastie Jr. (November 17, 1904 – April 14, 1976) was an American lawyer, judge, educator, public official, and civil rights advocate. He was the first African American to serve as Governor of the United States Virgin Islands, as a ...

instead, making Hastie the first black federal appeals court judge in 1950. Canton suggests that Alexander's frequent party-switching and perceived disloyalty to the Democratic Party may have harmed his chances at a nomination. After his efforts at a seat on the federal bench failed, Alexander sought a foreign service appointment, expressing a particular desire to be U.S. Ambassador to Haiti or

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

; he was unsuccessful.

City Council

By the late 1940s, Alexander joined the ranks of a growing reform movement in the Philadelphia Democratic Party. The group was led by

Joseph S. Clark Jr. Joseph Sill Clark Jr. (October 21, 1901January 12, 1990) was an American writer, lawyer and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 90th Mayor of Philadelphia from 1952 to 1956 and as a United States Senator from Pennsylvani ...

and

Richardson Dilworth Richardson K. Dilworth (August 29, 1898 – January 23, 1974) was an American Democratic Party politician who served as the 91st mayor of Philadelphia from 1956 to 1962. He twice ran as the Democratic nominee for governor of Pennsylvania, in ...

, former Republicans who had left their party over machine politics, and James A. Finnegan, a Democratic organization leader who saw that a growing desire for civil service reform and good government could lift his party from its perpetual minority status by attracting independent voters. After reformers passed a new city charter in 1951, Alexander won the Democratic primary to represent the 5th district on the

City Council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural coun ...

. At the general election that November, Alexander won easily, taking 58% of the vote against incumbent Republican Eugene J. Sullivan. Democrats swept nine of the ten council districts and elected Clark mayor, ending 67 years of Republican rule in the city. Alexander's campaign for council stressed messages of merit selection for city workers as well as increasing the number of black employees. The promise of civil service reform gained the confidence of black voters, who had traditionally been left out of the Republican patronage system. In 1953, Alexander introduced a resolution in council demanding that the then all-white

Girard College Girard College is an independent college preparatory five-day boarding school located on a 43-acre campus in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The school was founded and permanently endowed from the shipping and banking fortune of Stephen Girard upon ...

admit black students, or else lose its tax-exempt status. The case wended its way through the courts, led by civil rights activist

Cecil B. Moore Cecil Bassett Moore (April 2, 1915 – February 13, 1979) was a Philadelphia lawyer, politician and civil rights activist who led the fight to integrate Girard College, president of the local NAACP, and member of Philadelphia's city council ...

; the school eventually desegregated, but not until 1968, long after Alexander had left City Council. He was re-elected in 1955 with an increased share of the vote, receiving 70% of the vote to Republican nominee William Lynch's 30%. On the city council, Alexander continued to press the cause of civil service reform. In 1954, he successfully opposed the efforts of fellow Democrats James Hugh Joseph Tate and Michael J. Towey to weaken the civil service reforms of the new charter. Two years later, Alexander remained opposed, but the amendments' proponents found the required two-thirds vote in Council to make it on to the ballot for popular approval. A referendum on the subject failed in a vote that April.

Judge

In 1958, Rep.

Earl Chudoff Earl Chudoff (November 15, 1907 – May 17, 1993) was an American lawyer and jurist who served five terms as a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania from 1949 to 1958. Early life and career Earl Chudoff was ...

, who represented the

4th district Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

in the U.S. House of Representatives, resigned his seat after he was elected to be a judge on the Court of Common Pleas No. 1. In the ensuing special election for the congressional seat, as the 4th district was about 75% black, the Democratic organization wanted a black candidate to replace Chudoff, who was white. They settled on Robert N. C. Nix Sr., a local attorney. Alexander also announced his candidacy for the seat; according to his biographer, Alexander was less interested in serving in Congress than in using the leverage of a primary challenge to force the party organization to back him for a judgeship. The ploy was successful. Alexander soon dropped out of the race and Nix was elected. Governor

George M. Leader George Michael Leader (January 17, 1918 – May 9, 2013) was an American politician. He served as the 36th governor of Pennsylvania from January 18, 1955, until January 20, 1959. He was a member of the Democratic Party, and a native of York Count ...

appointed Alexander to be a judge on the Court of Common Pleas No. 4, to fill a vacancy caused by the resignation of

John Morgan Davis John Morgan Davis (August 9, 1906 – March 8, 1984) was the 22nd lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania from 1959 to 1963 and later was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. ...

, who was elected

lieutenant governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

in 1958. Governor Leader was initially hesitant to appoint Alexander as it was traditional for the governor to appoint judges from a list of recommendations by the judiciary committee of the Philadelphia Bar Association; however, there was "adequate precedent" for appointing a qualified judge not recommended by the committee, and Rep. William J. Green Jr. used his considerable political influence to ensure Alexander's appointment. On January 5, 1959, Alexander was sworn in, the first black judge to sit on the Court of Common Pleas, and in the election later that year, he won a full ten-year term on the court. In Alexander's first year on the court, he was disturbed by the high number of black defendants he saw and sought to remedy the problem by creating an alternate probation system for first-time offenders called the "Spiritual Rehabilitation Program", with funding and logistical assistance coming from local churches and synagogues. The program received national attention for its innovative approach to crime but failed to gain much support outside of black churches. He also found himself dragged back into the political realm when Republicans demanded that a

grand jury A grand jury is a jury—a group of citizens—empowered by law to conduct legal proceedings, investigate potential criminal conduct, and determine whether criminal charges should be brought. A grand jury may subpoena physical evidence or a p ...

be convened to investigate Democratic corruption in City Hall; Alexander rejected their petition. Alexander continued to be active as a civil rights leader but clashed with younger activists over the methods best suited to achieving their goals. In 1962, for example, while Alexander urged increased black representation on the Philadelphia Council for Community Advancement, he disagreed with NAACP branch president

's call for a boycott of corporate donors to the group. While supporting Martin Luther King Jr.'s civil disobedience campaigns in the South in 1964, he believed some measures hurt the cause by alienating white voters; he called on black leaders to "cease the needless demonstrations, stall-ins, uncalled lie downs especially in the North which bring discredit upon us". In 1966, he condemned the Black Power movement as "a hazardous and meaningless catch-phrase which is as dangerous and divisive for the Negro as the white racism which we have opposed for so long". Despite differences with Moore and others, Alexander continued to work toward his lifelong goal of racial equality. In 1969, he called for the city to hire more black employees, and in 1972 penned an article in ''

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Pen ...

'' calling for the

Philadelphia Police Department The Philadelphia Police Department (PPD or Philly PD) is the police agency responsible for law enforcement and investigations within the City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The PPD is one of the oldest municipal police agencies, fourth largest ...

to do the same. Meanwhile, he spoke out against

black separatism Black separatism is a separatist political movement that seeks separate economic and cultural development for those of African descent in societies, particularly in the United States. Black separatism stems from the idea of racial solidarity, and ...

, calling it "reverse racism". His focus increasingly was on how economic issues exacerbated racial problems, and he called for a

universal basic income Universal basic income (UBI) is a social welfare proposal in which all citizens of a given population regularly receive an unconditional transfer payment, that is, without a means test or need to work. It would be received independently of ...

and affirmative action to remedy the problem. Nevertheless, according to Canton, by the 1970s young blacks viewed Alexander and his generation of civil rights leaders as "out of touch and too dependent on the white elite".

Death and legacy

Having reached the mandatory retirement age of 70, Alexander was forced to retire from the court at the end of 1969, but stayed on as a

senior judge Senior status is a form of semi-retirement for United States federal judges. To qualify, a judge in the federal court system must be at least 65 years old, and the sum of the judge's age and years of service as a federal judge must be at least ...

. On the night of November 25, 1974, Alexander was found dead of a heart attack in his judicial chambers.

Leon Sullivan Leon Howard Sullivan (October 16, 1922 – April 24, 2001) was a Baptist minister, a civil rights leader and social activist focusing on the creation of job training opportunities for African Americans, a longtime General Motors Board Member, an ...

officiated Alexander's funeral at Philadelphia's First Baptist Church, after which the judge was buried in West Laurel Hill Cemetery in

Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania Bala Cynwyd ( ) is a community in Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania. It is located on the Philadelphia Main Line in Southeastern Pennsylvania, bordering the western edge of Philadelphia at U.S. Route 1 (City Avenue). It was originally two sep ...

. In 2007, the University of Pennsylvania endowed the Raymond Pace and Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander Professorship, devoted to the study of civil rights and race relations. Their daughters donated portraits of their parents to the law school to coincide with the announcement.

References

Sources

Books * * * * * * * * Journals * * * * * * * * Newspapers * * * * * * * * * Interview * Website *

External links

* Raymond Pace Alexander material in th
Alexander family papers, 1817–2005 (bulk 1925–1983)
at th
University of Pennsylvania University Archives and Records Center
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander, Raymond Pace 1897 births 1974 deaths 20th-century American judges 20th-century American politicians African-American history in Philadelphia African-American judges African-American lawyers Burials at West Laurel Hill Cemetery Central High School (Philadelphia) alumni American civil rights lawyers Harvard Law School alumni Judges of the Pennsylvania Courts of Common Pleas Mossell family Philadelphia City Council members Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania alumni 20th-century African-American politicians