Page 7 - front page_Neat

History and Mission

The D. Augustus Straker Bar Association was formed on October 4, 1990, as a special purpose
bar association recognized by the State Bar of Michigan. It is also an affiliate of the National
Bar Association. Membership includes a racially diverse coalition of lawyers, judges, in-house
counsel and other legal professionals, with a particular focus on attorneys who live, work, or
practice in Oakland County, Michigan.

The mission of the D. Augustus Straker Bar Association is to increase minority representation in
the legal profession, support and encourage legal practice opportunities for minorities, and
facilitate equal justice for all citizens.

By Gibson, J. W. (John William) (b. 1841) - Schomburg General Research and Reference Division, The New York
Public Library. (1903 - 1902). David Augustus Straker.

Who was D. Augustus Straker

The D. Augustus Straker Bar Association is named in honor
of D. Augustus Straker, the pioneering African-American
attorney, author and jurist. He was born in Bridgetown,
Barbados, in the West Indies. As a young man, Straker
studied philosophy, French, and Latin. He later came to the
United States to educate former slaves and received his law
degree from Howard University in 1871. In 1875, after
working for the United States Department of Treasury,
Straker was appointed an Inspector of Customs at Columbia,
South Carolina.
In 1876, he was elected to the South Carolina legislature and
re-elected twice thereafter. Later, Straker became the Dean
of Law at Allen University, a small African American
institution located in Columbia, South Carolina.After his
tenure at Allen University, Straker relocated to Detroit to practice law. In the course of his practice,
Straker became the first African-American attorney to appear before the Michigan Supreme Court.
In Ferguson v Gies, 82 Mich 358 (1890), Straker successfully argued that the "separate but equal"
doctrine was unconstitutional under Michigan law. The unanimous decision was remarkable given
the doctrine's rapidly rising tide which reached its epic three years later in the United States
Supreme Court decision in Plessey v Ferguson, 163 US 537 (1893). Gies has come to be known
as Michigan's "Great Civil Rights Case."
Gies, which was decided on October 10, 1890, actually preceded by some 64 years the landmark
United States Supreme Court decision in Brown v Board of Education which ushered in the
modern civil rights era. A few years after the Gies decision, Straker was elected the first African-
American jurist in Michigan. In 1892, he became a Wayne County Circuit Court Commissioner.
He served two terms. Clearly, Michigan's civil rights heritage owes much to the memory of D.
Augustus Straker. In choosing his name, the D. Augustus Straker Bar Association seeks to honor
D. Augustus Straker and his dedication to the practice of law.
More information can be found in the Michigan Bar Journal article linked HERE (Posted with permission from the January 2015 issue of the
Michigan Bar Journal).