History Lessons: Instructive Legal Episodes From Maine's Early Years — Episode 1: Becoming a Lawyer
Republished with permission from 23 Green Bag 2d 195 (Spring 2020)
9 Pages Posted: 23 Jul 2020
Date Written: June 11, 2020
Abstract
Macon Bolling Allen, the country's first African American lawyer, was admitted to the bar in Portland, Maine in 1844. Becoming a lawyer in antebellum America did not insulate Allen from racism. He faced financial hardship, hostility from white people, even assault. This article traces his career from Portland to Boston and, later, to South Carolina and Washington, D.C., as Allen built a career as a lawyer and also became the first African American to hold a U.S. judicial office. It is the first in a two-part series recounting early civil rights episodes in Maine’s history on the occasion of the state's bicentennial.
Keywords: Macon Bolling Allen, Portland, Maine, Boston, South Carolina, African American, history, civil rights, legal history, attorneys, judges, legal profession
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation