Charlotte E. Ray was an American lawyer and teacher. She was the first African American woman to graduate law school, and the third woman to graduate law school at all, because of her race and gender she never got to build a full career, but she opened up opportunities for other women of color to go into law. 

Charlotte was born on January 13th, 1850. Her mother helped slaves escape North through the Underground Railroad, and her father was an abolitionist newspaper editor and minister. She certainly got the activist mindset from both her parents.

She wanted to become a lawyer, which was  a very difficult thing for a woman, even more so a black woman to do at the time. However, she did something very smart and applied to law school under C.E. Ray, so her gender wouldn’t be obvious. When they learned she was a woman, they couldn’t say, you meet all the requirements, we were gonna admit you, but you’re a black woman, so you can’t be admitted.

I think she is an unsung hero because she laid the path for generations of black female lawyers, and she has gotten no awards and little attention for that. Despite not being well known in her time, Charlotte made a huge impact on society then and now.

Citations

Blakemore, Erin. “Charlotte E. Ray’s Brief but Historic Career as the First U.S. Black Woman Attorney.” HISTORY, www.history.com/news/charlotte-e-ray-first-black-woman-attorney.

Michelle, Tonya, et al. Charlotte E. Ray: A Black Woman Lawyer.

http://wlh-static.law.stanford.edu/papers/RayC-Osborne01.pdf