An illustration from a contemporary newspaper of W.A. Price after he moved to Kansas (where he won a landmark civil rights case before the Kansas Supreme Court in 1891 that helped form the precedent for Brown v. Board).
It might be hard to believe, but until relatively recently there was some disagreement on who, exactly, the first African-American attorneys were in Texas. Once you know the story, however, it becomes a little more clear why that remained such a mystery. Those trailblazers who overcame racist barriers to practice law weren’t celebrated for their achievements, except in newspapers and publications created specifically to cater to the African-American community. If any reference appeared at all in mainstream newspapers, it was usually to call attention to the novelty of it all.
“‘Imagine! A colored attorney, prepare yourselves to be shocked when you enter the courtroom!’ kind of things,” said John Browning, a shareholder at Passman & Jones in Dallas.
