the American Veterans Committee from 1957 to 1959.
an African American received a lifetime federal judgeship.
A member of the National Legal Committee of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) starting in 1937 as well as a member of the NAACP national board of directors, Ming was involved in numerous landmark civil rights cases including ones argued at the U.S. Supreme Court such as Sweatt vs Painter and McLaurin vs Oklahoma State Regents. Both 1950 cases challenged the discriminatory admissions policies concerning minorities and graduate schools at state universities. These cases were key legal milestones leading to the historic and victorious 1954 U.S. Supreme Court case of Brown vs Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas where Ming was a member of the NAACP’s formidable legal team comprised of future Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, William Hastie, Spottswood W. Robinson, James Nabrit Jr., and Brother George E.C. Hayes (Washington (DC) Alumni 1927), the 15 th Laurel Wreath Wearer, among others. In the 1960s, he continued litigating civil right cases while also maintaining a diverse array of clients ranging from gospel singer Mahalia Jackson, Nation of Islam leader the honorable ElijahMuhammad to controversial comedian Lenny Bruce and Playboy ® Magazine founder and publisher Hugh Hefner. By the end of the decade, Ming unfortunately faced his own personal legal issues. Rumored a target of President Richard Nixon’s administration, he was subject of an IRS investigation and faced income tax evasion charges. He was found guilty of tax evasion and subsequently sentenced to four months in federal prison. Represented by protégé, fellow Kappa and University of Chicago Law School graduate Ellis E. Reid III (Beta 1953), who later became the fraternity’s general counsel, Ming’s defense team appealed for clemency to President Nixon and was summarily rejected. Sadly, Ming had a stroke while in prison and entered the Chapter Invisible on June 30, 1973 at the age of 62. In 1974, the NAACP created the William Robert Ming Advocacy Award which is awarded annually to a lawyer “who exemplifies the spirit of financial and personal sacrifice that Bob Ming displayed in his legal work for the NAACP.” The 27 th Grand Polemarch Robert L. Harris Esq. is a past recipient of the Ming Advocacy Award. The Cook County Bar Association also has an award named in honor of Brother Ming which is presented to a “lawyer or lay person for dedication and substantial contribution to the causes of civil rights and individual liberties.”
Prior to his judgeship, Mollison worked in private legal practice and was national director of the National Association of Colored People (NAACP) and the National Urban League. He helped organize the National Bar Association and the third African American to join the
Jesse Ernest Wilkins Jr. (Iota 1938) Mathematics child prodigy, Student under Albert Einstein, Nuclear Physicist, Mathematician, Professor, Second Grand Keeper of Records and Exchequer B orn on November 23, 1923 in Chicago, IL, Brother J. Ernest Wilkins Jr. was the son of University of Chicago Law School graduate and the 13th Grand Polemarch J. Ernest Wilkins Sr. and Lucille Robinson Wilkins. He entered the University of Chicago at the age of thirteen becoming the university’s youngest ever student. Labeled the “Negro genius” by the media of the day, he earned his: • B.S. degree in mathematics as a Phi Beta Kappa graduate in 1940 at the age of sixteen; • M.S. degree in 1941 at the age of seventeen; • Ph.D. degree in December 1942 at the age of nineteen. • Initiated into Kappa Alpha Psi ® in May 1938 at the age of fourteen, Brother J. Ernest Wilkins Jr. is the fraternity’s youngest initiate in its history. While obtaining his Ph.D., he won a Rosenwald Scholarship and studied at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, NJ under famed physicist Albert Einstein. He taught for one year at the Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University) and then returned to his alma mater where he worked on the Manhattan Project during World War II from 1944 to 1946, the research and development project that produced the first atomic bomb. In 1947, Wilkins Jr., at age 24, was elected as the fraternity’s second Grand Keeper of Records and Exchequer succeeding his father who was elected Grand Polemarch. This is only time in fraternity history a father and son served together as grand officers at the same time. His tenure as the Grand Keeper of Records and Exchequer predates the establishment of the fraternity’s international headquarters (IHQ) which was formed in 1953.
Chicago Bar Association.
Mollison's most renown litigation was the 1940 U.S. Supreme Court case of Hansberry v. Lee which he won, along with University of Chicago Law School graduates and fellow Kappa men, the Fifth Grand Polemarch Earl B. Dickerson (Beta 1913), Truman K. Gibson (Iota 1930) and Loring B. Moore (Iota 1919). He was a board member of the Chicago Public Library and appointed by Mayor Edward Kelly to the Chicago School Board. He was a member of both the Original Forty Club of Chicago and the Appomattox Club of Chicago. As an attorney, he fought discriminatory restrictive covenants in the city of Chicago. Mollison’s most renown litigation was the 1940 U.S. Supreme Court case of Hansberry v. Lee which he won, along with University of Chicago Law School graduates and fellow Kappa men, the Fifth Grand Polemarch Earl B. Dickerson (Beta 1913), Truman K. Gibson (Iota 1930) and Loring B. Moore (Iota 1919). During his tenure as a federal judge, he was instrumental in the publication of the United States Customs Law Digest and the procurement of congressional funding to renovate and expand the law library facilities of the United States Custom Court. Born in December of 1899, Judge Mollison entered the Chapter Invisible on May 5, 1962 at the age of 63. He was an avid art collector. After his death, the Mollison family donated Mollison’s art collection to Spelman College and Atlanta University both located in Atlanta, GA. Irvin C. Mollison Elementary School located in the historic Bronzeville neighborhood of Chicago is named in his honor.
NOTE: 1. Graduation photo of Brother Ming and his mother is from the October 1933 issue of Kappa Alpha Psi Journal 2. Photo featuring Brother Ming is from the May 1946 issue of Kappa Alpha Psi Journal
Irvin Charles Mollison (Iota 1919) United States’ first African American federal judge, Attorney, Civic Leader
His appointment marked the first time in United States history an African American received a lifetime federal judgeship.
T he Vicksburg, MS native and son of an attorney, Brother Irvin C. Mollison transferred from Ohio’s Oberlin College to University of Chicago earning a bachelor’s degree and J.D. degree in 1920 and 1923 respectively.
While at University of Chicago, Mollison earned membership into the Phi Beta Kappa Society. He became the first African American named to the federal judiciary when President Harry S. Truman appointed him to the United States Customs Court in 1945. His appointment marked the first time in United States history
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Publishing achievement for more than 100 years Publishing achievement for more than 100 years
Publishing achievement for more than 100 years
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