Crockett, George W. (George William), 1909-1997

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George William Crockett Jr. (August 10, 1909 – September 7, 1997) was an African-American attorney, jurist, and congressman from the U.S. state of Michigan. He also served as a national vice-president of the National Lawyers Guild and co-founded what is believed to be the first racially integrated law firm in the United States.

Born in Jacksonville, Florida, on August 10, 1909, Crockett was the son of George Crockett, Sr., a carpenter, and Minnie Jenkins Crockett. He attended public schools in his native city and graduated with an A.B. from Morehouse College in Atlanta in 1931. Crockett went north to study law at the University of Michigan, where he earned a J.D. in 1934. That same year he married Dr. Ethelene Jones, the first black woman to practice obstetrics and gynecology in Michigan and the first woman president of the American Lung Association. The couple had three children: Elizabeth Ann Hicks, George William Crockett III, and Ethelene Crockett Jones. After his wife died in 1978, Crockett remarried two years later, to Harriette Clark Chambliss, a pediatrician with two sons.

During his career before Congress, Crockett established a solid civil rights record. He helped found Michigan’s first integrated law firm andorganized the Mississippi Project to provide free legal services for civil rights workers imprisoned in Mississippi. As a judge of the Recorder’s Court in Detroit from 1966 to 1978 and the presiding official of the court for the latter four years, Crockett often dispensed lenient sentences for defendants arrested in civil rights protests. Of the belief that African–American judges should be the “conscience of the judiciary,” Crockett garnered national attention in 1969 when he released more than 100 members of a black separatist group after a violent encounter with the Detroit police. Crockett defended his actions by asking, “Can any of you imagine the Detroit police invading an all–white church and rounding up everyone in sight to be bused to a wholesale lockup in a police garage?” After retiring from the Recorder’s Court, he served as a visiting judge on the Michigan Court of Appeals and as corporation counsel for the City of Detroit.

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
referencedIn Guide to the Daily Worker and Daily World Photographs Collection, 1920-2001 Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives
creatorOf Hall, Gwendolyn Midlo. Gwendolyn M. Hall papers, 1939-1991 (bulk 1968-1990). Bentley Historical Library
referencedIn Records of the Office of Speechwriting (Clinton Administration), 1993 - 2001. Heather Hurlburt's Files, 2000 - 2001 William J. Clinton Presidential Library & Museum
creatorOf Agnello, George P., 1940-. Methadone treatment for heroin addiction oral history project, 1970. Bentley Historical Library
referencedIn University of Michigan. Dept. of Journalism. Dept. of Journalism (University of Michigan) research papers, 1967-1978. Bentley Historical Library
referencedIn Dept. of Journalism (University of Michigan) research papers, 1967-1978 Bentley Historical Library
creatorOf George Crockett Papers. Wayne State University. Archives of Labor and Urban Affairs
referencedIn Inventory of the Revolutionary Publications and Writings: Area Studies MSS 00159 ., 1921-1976. Cushing Memorial Library,
creatorOf Michigan Historical Collections. Detroit Riot Oral History Project transcripts, 1984-1985. Bentley Historical Library
creatorOf Guide to the Alfred and Hortense Wagenknecht and Helen and Carl Winter Family Papers, circa 1890-2002 Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives
referencedIn Judicial Council of the National Bar Association (1970- ). Records. 1970-1977. Tulane University, Amistad Research Center
creatorOf Crockett, George W.,. Oral history interview with George W. Crockett, Jr., 1968. Wayne State University. Archives of Labor and Urban Affairs
referencedIn Civil Rights Congress of Michigan. Civil Rights Congress of Michigan records, 1933-1963, (bulk 1935-1955). Wayne State University. Archives of Labor and Urban Affairs
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
associatedWith Abt, John J. person
associatedWith Addes, George F., 1910- person
associatedWith American Federation of Labor. corporateBody
correspondedWith Civil Rights Congress of Michigan. corporateBody
associatedWith Communist Party of the United States of America. corporateBody
associatedWith Communist Party of the United States of America (Mich.). corporateBody
associatedWith Conyers, John, 1929- person
associatedWith Democratic Party (Mich.) corporateBody
memberOf Detroit (Mich.). Recorder's Court corporateBody
associatedWith Hall, Gwendolyn Midlo. person
associatedWith Hill, Herbert, 1924-2004, person
associatedWith Hortense, Allison person
associatedWith International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace, and Agricultural Implement Workers of America. Fair Practices and Anti-Discrimination Dept. corporateBody
associatedWith International Union, United Automobile, Aircraft, and Agricultural Implement Workers of America corporateBody
associatedWith International Union, United Automobile, Aircraft, and Agricultural Implement Workers of America. War Policy Division. corporateBody
associatedWith International Union, United Automobile Workers of America (CIO) corporateBody
associatedWith Judicial Council of the National Bar Association (1970- ) corporateBody
memberOf Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity corporateBody
associatedWith Mason, Hodges. person
associatedWith McBride, Roberta, person
associatedWith Michigan Historical Collections. corporateBody
associatedWith Miriani, Louis C. person
alumnusOrAlumnaOf Morehouse College (Atlanta, Ga.) corporateBody
associatedWith National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. corporateBody
memberOf National Lawyers Guild corporateBody
associatedWith Oliver, William H., 1915- person
associatedWith Reuther, Victor G. (Victor George), 1912-2004. person
associatedWith Reuther, Walter, 1907-1970. person
associatedWith Sheffield, Horace. person
associatedWith Thomas, R. J. (Rolland Jay), 1900-1967. person
associatedWith Trade Union Leadership Council. corporateBody
associatedWith United States. Committee on Fair Employment Practice. corporateBody
memberOf United States. Congress. House person
employeeOf United States Department of Labor corporateBody
associatedWith University of Michigan. Dept. of Journalism. corporateBody
alumnusOrAlumnaOf University of Michigan. Law school corporateBody
associatedWith Wagenknecht, Alfred person
associatedWith Wayne State University. Archives of Labor and Urban Affairs. corporateBody
associatedWith Winter, Carl, 1906-1991 person
associatedWith Winter, Helen, 1908-2001 person
associatedWith Young, Coleman A. person
Place Name Admin Code Country
Ann Arbor MI US
Fairmont WV US
Jacksonville FL US
District of Columbia DC US
Atlanta GA US
Detroit MI US
Subject
African American labor union members
Archival resources
Communism
Communists
Communist trials
Discrimination in employment
Interviews
Labor
Labor movement
Labor unions
Labor unions
Labor unions
Minorities
Oral history
Race relations
Racism
Women communists
Working class
Occupation
Jurists
Lawyers
Representatives, U.S. Congress
Activity

Person

Birth 1909-08-10

Death 1997-09-07

Male

Americans

English

Information

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