02.06.10
Black History Month: New Jersey’s Oliver Randolph
Thinking about Black History Month makes me proud when I consider all of the achievements African Americans have made for countless decades. One of them, Oliver Randolph, is someone I have come to know recently through the pages of history. He was the first African American to be admitted to the New Jersey State Bar in 1914. A graduate of Howard University Law School, Randolph lived in Newark and served in the New Jersey State Legislature and, in 1946, was appointed as a deputy in the New Jersey State Attorney General’s office. His signature appeared on the New Jersey Constitution, and he helped to pass important civil rights legislation, including the Anti-Lynching Law of the State of New Jersey.
While Randolph’s achievements were many, he also came from an accomplished family. His father was a longtime state legislator in Mississippi during Reconstruction, and his brother, Joseph, was the first black president of Claflin College in South Carolina (he was known as Uncle Joe in my family as he was married to my great-grandmother’s sister). I hope Oliver Randolph’s story, and that of his family members, continues to inspire people today. Happy Black History Month.
