A LOOK BACK: KAPPA HISTORY
Kennedy's nomination of Parsons, the great- grandson of enslaved people, as United States District Court Judge for Northern Illinois; made him the first Black District court judge in the continental United States with life tenure. Court and election as the first Black representative to the United States Judicial Conference. Par- sons gained worldwide attention when the successfully prosecuted the first case in the country ap- plying that segment of the Smith Act which made it unlawful to be a member of the Communist Party. He also ruled in a land- mark discrimination case against Greyhound bus lines. Addition- ally, Parsons served on President Kennedy’s Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice. Among his numerous affiliations and memberships are the Illinois Commission on Education for Law and Justice of the Illinois Board of Education, and the federal, na- tional, American and Cook County Bar Associations. He also served on numerous boards, including the National Advisory Council of the Boy Scouts of America, Illinois Masonic Hospital and the Citi- zenship Council of Metropolitan Chicago. He was the founder and honorary chairman of the Chicago
tel’s Grand Ballroom, following Parsons’ installation to honoring his achievement. Approximately 1,000 people were in attendance, including then Grand Polemarch Richard B. Millspaugh and Past Grand Polemarch C. Rodger Wilson. The Road to Kappaland While conducting his undergrad- uate studies at Millikin, Parsons began pledging the Beta Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi ® at the Uni- versity of Illinois. Parson’s pledge line at Beta Chapter consisted of men from various neighboring colleges and universities, due to lack of initiates at their schools. He started his pledgeship with several other initiates, one of which was Olympic medalist and future U.S. Congressman Ralph Metcalf of Marquette Univer- sity. Both Parsons and Metcalf dropped line during ‘Hell Week’. Metcalf subsequently pledged Al- pha Phi Alpha and Parsons com- pleted his initiation at Lincoln University (Alpha Mu) in 1938. Parsons recalled that he was further inspired by a couple of his teachers who were members of Kappa Alpha Psi ® as well as his affiliation with Earl B. Dickerson, J. Ernest Wilkins Sr. and J. Ernest Wilkins Jr. Other Accomplishments and Accolades Some of Parsons’ other significant ‘firsts’ attained as a district court judge include: becoming the first Black Chief Judge of a District
Conference on Religion and Race. Parsons presided for more than 30 years before his retirement in 1992. After his retirement from ac- tive court cases, Parsons continued to perform court-related adminis- trative assignments until his health deteriorated. He died in Chicago, Illinois, June 19, 1993 at the age of 81.
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