Charlotte E. Ray (Fraim)
(January 13, 1850 – January 4, 1911
The first black American female lawyer in the United States
The first female admitted to the District of Columbia Bar.
The first woman admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia.
Ray opened her own law office, advertising in a newspaper run by Frederick Douglass.
My Synopsis of what I learned from the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem, one of The New York Public Library’s renowned research libraries.
Charlotte E. Ray was the first black woman lawyer in the United States. She was admitted to the bar in April 1872 at the age of 22 years old.
Her father was Charles B. Ray. He was a college graduate, Activist, Journalist, Minister, and conductor on the Underground Railroad.
Charlotte’s parents were well-educated and expected nothing less from their daughters. They encourage them to dream and dream big and pursue that destiny.
Charlotte did just that and attended the institution for education for colored youth in Washington DC.
she also taught there.
In order for her definite acceptance into Harvard Law College, she used her wits by not using her given name but only the initials CE to the registry and was admitted in which was CE.
She focused on her studies for she excelled in academics and also in Real Estate. She graduated from Howard College of Law. She graduated and passed the Bar Exam. at the age of 22 becoming the first black woman lawyer in the United States. After she passed the exam an editorial was written about her in May 1872 stated in the Woman Journal:
‘IN THE CITY OF WASHINGTON WHERE A FEW YEARS AGO COLORED WOMEN WERE BOUGHT AND SOLD UNDER SANCTION OF LAW. a WOMAN OF AFRICAN DECENT HAS BEEN ADMITTED TO PRACTICE AT THE BAR OF THE SUPREME COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. CHARLOTTE E. RAY WHO HAS THE HONOR OF BEING THE FIRST LADY LAWYER IN WASHINGTON IS A GRADUATE OF THE COLLEGE OF LAW AT HOWARD UNIVERSITY AND IS SAID TO BE A DUSKY MULLATO POSSING QUITE AN INTELLECT COUNTENECE. SHE DOUBLESS HAS A FINE MIND AND DESERVES SUCCESS.
The founder of Howard University General OO Howard ( Oliver Otis Howard ) states in his 1870 annual report:
“A tustee o the law school was amazed to find a colored woman who has read us a thesis on corporation law and not copied from the books but from her brain a clear incisive analysis of one of the most delicate legal questions”
Charlotte opened her own law firm practice in Washington D.C. Her practice suffered for many years and finally she closed the doors and returned back home to her birthplace New York. She went on to work at the Brooklyn public schools with her two younger sisters. She did eventually get married and you will see in the full bio and became a suffragist none like two other women that were still alive during her life which were Sojourner Truth ( Isabella Bumfree) and Ida B. Wells Barnett who was an anti-legislature crusader.
Charlotte E. Ray died just two days before her 61 birthday in 1911.. she has been laid to rest in Cypress Hill Cemetary in Brooklyn New York, along with Arturo Schaumburg, Jackie Robinson, and Eubie Blake.
Charlotte E. Ray was authentic and made history a true pioneer and trailblazer with the self-will to dream and to make that dream a reality.
BIOGRAPHY
Charlotte E. Ray became the first black American woman and only the third woman of any race, admitted to the practice of law in the United States. She earned a special reputation as an authority on corporation law. Born in New York City on January 13, 1850, she was one of seven children of Charles Bennett Ray and Charlotte Augusta Burroughs Ray. Her father was a Congressional minister, abolitionist, and conductor of the Underground Railroad. Her mother came from Savannah, Georgia.
Ray decided to study law at Howard University, knowing that schools at that time did not want to admit women to the study of law Ray decided to study law at Howard University, knowing that schools at that time did not want to admit women to the study of law.
After she was accepted and began her course of study in 1869, she soon impressed others at the school with her diligence and capability. James C. Napier, a classmate and later a registrar of the United States Treasury, remembered her as “an apt scholar.” General O. O. Howard, the founder and first president of Howard University, praised her as “a colored woman who read us a thesis on corporations, not copied from the books, but from her brain, a clear incisive analysis of one of the most delicate legal questions.” Specializing in commercial law, Ray wrote a paper entitled “Chancery,” which established her as one of the ablest young experts on corporate law in the country.
Soon after receiving her law degree from Howard University in February 1872, Ray was admitted to the practice of law in the District of Columbia.
Because of her academic accomplishments, Ray expected to have a future in law. Most observers felt the same way. A May 1872 article in Woman’s Journal reflected that feeling: “In the city of Washington, where a few years ago colored women were bought and sold under sanction of law, a woman of African descent has been admitted to practice at the bar of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia. “
However, corporate leaders in Washington, D.C., simply could not accept the idea of doing business with a black woman lawyer. Despite her recognized stature as an authority on corporation law, she could not attract enough clients to maintain her law practice, so in 1879 she closed her office and returned to her native New York City. The loss of her legal expertise was lamented for years to come.
After returning to New York City, Ray taught in the Brooklyn public school system. She also attended the annual convention of the National Women’s Suffrage Association, became an active member of the National Association of Colored Women and married a man with the surname Fraim, about whom little is known.Charlotte Ray died of acute bronchitis at Woodside, New York on January 4, 1911, at age 60.
While Ray was the first African American lawyer in the United States, Arabella Mansfield was the first woman admitted to a state bar (Iowa, 1869), and Belva Lockwood was the first woman to argue before the U.S. Supreme Court (1879).
Though she only practiced law for a few years, Charlotte Ray demonstrated that African American women could excel in the field of law, and her achievements helped to inspire others. Since 1989, the Greater Washington Area Chapter of the Women Lawyers Division of the National Bar Association annually recognizes a local outstanding African American female lawyer with the Charlotte E. Ray Award. The first award ever given was to Michele Coleman Mayes Vice President, General Counsel, and Secretary for the New York Public Libray. She is a trailblazer and influencer and is mentioned and named one of the national law journal’s influential General Counsels and was honored with the American Lawyer lifetime achievement award. She has used her wide platform to break down barriers for a woman of color in the field of law to succeed. When I was doing my research and seeking images of Charlotte right next to her appears Ms. Michele, Coleman Mayes
Today, the Greater Washington Area Chapter (GWAC), Women Lawyers Division of the National Bar Association, recognizes Ray’s contributions. The GWAC, a group of black women lawyers in the District of Columbia, presents an annual award named in her honor.
“In becoming a lawyer, Charlotte Ray justified the dreams of many abolitionists, woman suffragists, and free black Americans…,” Dorothy Thomas wrote in Black Women in America.