Courtesy of Fayetteville University
Campbell Law School’s traveling exhibit honoring the contributions of trailblazing African American judges in North Carolina has landed at Fayetteville State University for the month of February.
The “First African Americans on the North Carolina Bench” features a timeline of the lives and achievements of each judge and justice from 1968-2006. While today North Carolina has numerous African American judges, including the appointment of the first African American woman, Cheri Beasley, as Chief Justice of the N.C. Supreme Court in 2019, there were no African Americans on the bench in the Old North State prior the late 1960s.
“I commissioned this exhibit because I felt it was important to highlight these trailblazing individuals,” Dean J. Rich Leonard explained. “I am proud of this curation and believe audiences around the state might benefit from learning about those who achieved great success against difficult odds.”
The exhibit, which is made up of eight banners, can be found in FSU’s Chesnutt Library through March 1, 2022.
“The Chesnutt Library is extremely grateful for the opportunity to showcase this amazing exhibit. It is a corner stone of our Black History Month celebration. As an HBCU, this exhibition helps us celebrate important African American achievements, and hopefully it will serve as a source of inspiration for our future leaders. Our students have already shown a keen interest in the banners. They are finding the rich life stories of these North Carolina judges to be remarkable and awe-inspiring.” Larry Treadwell IV, Director of Library Services.
The permanent installation was dedicated at Campbell Law in February 2019 as part of Black History Month. The banners have previously been on public display at the City of Raleigh Museum, Saint Augustine’s University, and the Wake County Courthouse.
“Our goal has been to have the banners travel around to different parts of ‘The Old North State’ to help broaden the exhibit’s reach,” Leonard added. “We are thrilled to have them on display at Fayetteville State University to help celebrate Black History Month.”
The permanent exhibit was part of Campbell Law’s year-long 10/40 celebration in 2019 that marked both the 40th anniversary of the school’s first graduating class, and the 10th anniversary of its trailblazing move from Buies Creek to downtown Raleigh.
