William Henry Hastie (1904-1976) • (blackpast.org)
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William Henry Hastie (1904-1976)
William Henry Hastie Jr., attorney and diplomat, was born on November 17, 1904 in Knoxville, Tennessee to parents William Henry Hastie Sr. and Roberta Childs. He spent his childhood in Tennessee until his family moved to Washington, D.C. Hastie graduated from Dunbar High School in Washington, D.C. in 1921 and four years later received an A.B. from Amherst College in Massachusetts. where graduated first in his class, magna cum laude, and Phi Beta Kappa.
Following graduation, Hastie was offered fellowships for graduate work at Oxford University and the University of Paris. He decided instead to accept a job at New Jersey’s Bordentown Manual School. He was on the faculty until 1927, when he entered Harvard University Law School.
In 1930, Hastie received his LL.B. from Harvard University. Shortly afterwards he became a member of the Howard University School of Law faculty. Hastie was also admitted to the District of Columbia Bar in 1931 and practiced law with his cousin Charles Hamilton Houston, who later became dean of the Howard University Law School. Hastie returned to Harvard in 1933 to receive an S.J.D.
In 1933, William Hastie became one of the first African American members of the Franklin Roosevelt Administration. He was appointed the president’s race relations advisor. Later he was given the post of assistant solicitor for the Department of Interior. While working for the department, he wrote the constitution for the U.S. Virgin Islands.
In March 1937, Hastie was appointed judge of the Federal District Court in the Virgin Islands by President Roosevelt, becoming the nation’s first African American Federal judge. Hastie served for two years, but he resigned in 1939 to become Dean and Professor of Law at Howard University School of Law.
During his time as dean, Hastie also served as Civilian Aid to Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson from 1940 to 1942. Hastie urged the racial integration of armed forces. In 1942, he resigned in protest because the Army Air Force decided to create a separate training facility for African Americans and returned to his duties at Howard University School of Law. Ironically, his protest prompted the army and navy to begin limited experimentation with integrated units.
In 1946, President Harry Truman appointed Hastie Governor of the Virgin Islands, a post he held until 1949. William Hastie thus became the first African American to hold the post of governor of a U.S. territory. In 1949, President Truman nominated Hastie for Judge of the Third United States Circuit Court of Appeals and on July 19, 1950 the Senate confirmed Hastie for the position. At that time, this was the highest judicial position held by an African American. He retired from the judgeship in 1971.
William Henry Hastie, a member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity and Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity, died on April 14, 1976 at the age of 71. He was survived by his wife, the former Beryl Lockhart, and his children, William H., Jr. and Karen H. Williams.
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William Henry Hastie Jr. (November 17, 1904 – April 14, 1976) was an American lawyer, judge, educator, public official, and civil rights advocate. He was the first African American to serve as Governor of the United States Virgin Islands, as a federal judge,[1] and as a federal appellate judge.[2] He served as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and previously served as District Judge of the District Court of the Virgin Islands.
Hastie was born in Knoxville, Tennessee, the son of William Henry Hastie, Sr. and Roberta Childs.[3] His maternal ancestors were African American and Native American, but European American is also a strong possible mix. Family tradition held that one female ancestor was a Malagasy princess.[4] He graduated from Dunbar High School, a top academic school for black students.
Hastie attended Amherst College in Massachusetts, where he graduated first in his class, magna cum laude, and Phi Beta Kappa, receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree.[5] While in college, Hastie was initiated into Omega Psi Phi fraternity.[6] He received a Bachelor of Laws from Harvard Law School in 1930, followed by a Doctor of Juridical Science from the same institution in 1933.[7]
Hastie entered the private practice of law in Washington, D.C. from 1930 to 1933.[7] From 1933 to 1937 he served as assistant solicitor for the United States Department of the Interior,[7] advising the agency on racial issues.[citation needed] He had worked with his second cousin, Charles Hamilton Houston, to establish a joint law practice.[8]
In 1937, President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed Hastie to the District Court of the Virgin Islands,[9] making Hastie the first African-American federal judge.[5] This was a controversial action; Democratic United States Senator William H. King of Utah, the Chairman of the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary called Hastie's appointment a "blunder." King opposed any nominee who supported Black equality.[10]
In 1939, Hastie resigned from the court to become the Dean of the Howard University School of Law, where he had previously taught.[2] One of his students was Thurgood Marshall, who led the Legal Defense Fund for the NAACP and was appointed as a United States Supreme Court Justice.[citation needed]
Hastie served as a co-lead lawyer with Thurgood Marshall in the voting rights case of Smith v. Allwright, 321 U.S. 649 (1944) in which the Supreme Court ruled against white primaries.[11] One of Houston's sons became a name partner at the law firm.[citation needed]
During World War II, Hastie worked as a civilian aide to the United States Secretary of War Henry Stimson from 1940 to 1942.[7] He vigorously advocated the equal treatment of African Americans in the United States Army and their unrestricted use in the war effort.[12]
On January 15, 1943, Hastie resigned his position in protest against racially segregated training facilities in the United States Army Air Forces, inadequate training for African-American pilots, and the unequal distribution of assignments between whites and non-whites.[12] That same year, he received the Spingarn Medal from the NAACP, both for his lifetime achievements and in recognition of this protest action.[13]
In 1946, President Harry S. Truman appointed Hastie as Territorial Governor of the United States Virgin Islands.[7] He was the first African American to hold this position. Hastie served as governor from 1946 to 1949.[7]
Hastie received a recess appointment from President Harry S. Truman on October 21, 1949, to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, to a new seat authorized by 63 Stat. 493, becoming the first African-American federal appellate judge. He was nominated to the same position by President Truman on January 5, 1950. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on July 19, 1950, and received his commission on July 22, 1950. He served as Chief officer as a member of the Judicial Conference of the United States from 1968 to 1971. He assumed senior status on May 31, 1971. He was a Judge of the Temporary Emergency Court of Appeals from 1972 to 1976. His service terminated on April 14, 1976, when he died in Philadelphia while he was playing golf.[7][14]
As the first African American on the Federal bench, Hastie was considered as a possible candidate to be the first African-American Justice of the Supreme Court. In an interview with Robert Penn Warren for the book Who Speaks for the Negro?, Hastie commented that as a judge, he had not been able to be "out in the hustings, and to personally sample grassroots reaction" but that for the Civil Rights Movement to succeed, both class and race must be considered.[15]
In 1962, President John F. Kennedy considered appointing Hastie to succeed retiring Justice Charles Whittaker.[16] But due to political calculations he did not do so, as he believed that an African-American appointee would have faced fierce opposition in the United States Senate from Southerners such as James Eastland (D-Mississippi), the chairman of the Judiciary Committee. Conversely, on issues other than civil rights, Hastie was considered relatively moderate, and Chief Justice Earl Warren was reportedly "violently opposed" to Hastie, as he would be too conservative as a justice.[16] Justice William O. Douglas reportedly told Robert F. Kennedy that Hastie would be "just one more vote for Frankfurter."[16] Kennedy appointed Byron White instead.
Kennedy said that he expected to make several more appointments to the Supreme Court in his presidency and that he intended to appoint Hastie to the Court at a later date.[17]
Hastie was an elected member of both the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Philosophical Society.[18][19] The Third Circuit Library in Philadelphia is named in Hastie's honor.[20] A permanent memorial room in his honor is hosted by The Beck Cultural Exchange Center in Knoxville, Tennessee, which also houses his personal papers.[21] In addition, an urban natural area in South Knoxville is named in his honor.[22]
In terms of African-American history, Hastie developed from a youthful radical to a scholarly, calm, almost aloof jurist. He said the judge always ought to be in the middle, for his basic responsibility "is to maintain neutrality while giving the best objective judgment of the contest between adversaries." He served as major influence for many lawyers and jurists, Judge Solomon Oliver Jr. was among those who clerked for him, and cites Hastie as his greatest influence. As a scion of an elite black family, he reflected its integrationist viewpoint. He said, "The Negro lawyer has played and continues to play, a very important role in the American Negro's struggle for equality."[23] When he resigned as the top aide on racial matters to the War Department in 1943, he said it was caused by "reactionary policies and discriminatory practices in the Army and Air Forces."[24]
Hastie's daughter, Karen Hastie Williams, was a prominent lawyer, and the first woman of colour appointed clerk to a U.S. Supreme Court Justice.[25]
- John F. Kennedy Supreme Court candidates
- List of African-American jurists
- List of African-American federal judges
- List of first minority male lawyers and judges in the United States
- ^ "History of the Federal Judiciary: First African American Judges", Federal Judicial Center
- ^ a b Hastie, William H. (1972-01-05). "Truman Library – Judge William H. Hastie Oral History Interview" (Transcript). Interviewed by Jerry N. Hess. Retrieved 2013-03-01.
- ^ Vile, John R. (2001). Great American lawyers: an encyclopedia. Vol. 1. Santa Barbara, Calif: ABC-CLIO. ISBN 1576072029.
- ^ Childs, John Brown (1999). "Red Clay, Blue Hills: In Honor of My Ancestors". In Maurianne Adams; Rosie Castaneda; Madeline L. Peters; Ximena Zuniga; Warren J. Blumenfeld (eds.). Social Justice : An Anthology on Racism, Sexism, Anti-Semitism, Heterosexism, Classism, and Ableism (1 ed.). New York; London: Routledge. pp. 110–113. ISBN 0415926335.
- ^ a b Wynn, Linda T.; Bobby L. Lovett (1995-12-15). "William Henry Hastie (1904–1976)". In Linda T. Wynn; Gayle Brinkley-Johnson (eds.). A Profile of African Americans in Tennessee History. Annual Local Conference on Afro-American Culture and History. Nashville, US:
- Tennessee State University Library. Retrieved 2013-03-01.
- ^ "Official Website of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc". 2008-02-02. Archived from the original on 2008-02-02. Retrieved 2020-06-10.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Hastie, William Henry – Federal Judicial Center". www.fjc.gov.
- ^ "William H. Hastie 1904–1976". Encyclopedia.com. May 1, 2020. Retrieved June 10, 2020.
- ^ "[USC04] 18 USC 23: Court of the United States defined". uscode.house.gov.
- ^ Watts, Jill (2020). The Black Cabinet: The Untold Story of African Americans and Politics During the Age of Roosevelt. New York: Grove Press. p. 239. ISBN 978-0-8021-4866-7.
- ^ "SMITH v. ALLWRIGHT, 321 U.S. 649 (1944) | FindLaw". caselaw.findlaw.com.
- ^ a b James, Rawn (2013-01-22). The Double V: How Wars, Protest, and Harry Truman Desegregated America's Military (1 ed.). New York: Bloomsbury Press. ISBN 978-1608196081.
- ^ "Spingarn Medal". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 2020-06-10.
- ^ "Judge Hastie, First Black Federal Jurist, Dead at 71". Jet. Vol. 50, no. 6. Johnson Publishing Company. 1976-04-29. p. 6.
- ^ Robert Penn Warren Center for the Humanities. "William Hastie, Jr". Robert Penn Warren's Who Speaks for the Negro? Archive. Retrieved 4 February 2015.
- ^ a b c Hutchinson, Dennis J. "The Ideal New Frontier Judge" – The Supreme Court Review Vol. 1997 (1997). p. 379.
- ^ Schlesinger, Arthur Meier (2002). A Thousand Days: John F. Kennedy in the White House (1st Mariner Books ed.). Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN 978-0618219278.
- ^ "William Henry Hastie". American Academy of Arts & Sciences. Retrieved 2022-08-22.
- ^ "APS Member History". search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved 2022-08-22.
- ^ See Circuit Libraries
- ^ See beckcenter.net/online-tour
- ^ See William Hastie Natural Area
- ^ Bruce M. Stave, "Hastie. William Henry" in John A. Garraty, ed., Encyclopedia of American Biography (1974) p 498.
- ^ Stave, 1974.
- ^ Risen, Clay (2021-08-08). "Karen Hastie Williams, Barrier-Breaking Lawyer, Dies at 76". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-01-28.
- Childs, John Brown (2000). "Red Clay, Blue Hills: In Honor of My Ancestors". In Maurianne Adams; Rosie Castaneda; Madeline L. Peters; Ximena Zuniga; Warren J. Blumenfeld (eds.). Readings for Diversity and Social Justice : An Anthology on Racism, Sexism, Anti-Semitism, Heterosexsm, Classism, and Ableism (1 ed.). New York; London: Routledge. pp. 110–113. ISBN 0415926335.
- Associated Press (1937-03-02). "Hastie's Selection Termed 'Blunder'". The Washington Post. p. 17.
- Negro Soldiers Defended. New York Times. Oct 4, 1941. p. 14, 1 p
- Army Aide Quits; Protests Negro Pilot Treatment. Chicago Daily Tribune. Feb 1, 1943. p. 21, 1 p
- Hastie Nominated For Governorship Of Virgin Islands. The Washington Post. Jan 6, 1946. p. M1, 2 pp
- "Federal Judge Dies; Slave's Grandson". Los Angeles Times. 1976-04-15. p. 8. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on April 11, 2013. Retrieved 2013-03-02.
- "Judge William Hastie, 71, of Federal Court, Dies". The New York Times. 1976-04-15. p. 36. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2013-03-02.
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Judge William Hastie, 71, Of Federal Court, Dies - The New York Times (nytimes.com)
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Judge William Hastie, 71, Of Federal Court, Dies
April 15, 1976, Page 36Buy Reprints
PHILADELPHIA, April 14 (AP)—Judge William H. Hastie, the first black appointed to a Federal appeals court judgeship and a former Governor of the Virgin Islands, died today at Suburban General Hospital in East Norriton. He was 71 years old.
Won Springarn Medal
When Judge Hastie was named to the United States Cir., cuit of Appeals for the Third Circuit by President Harry S. Truman in October 1949, it was the highest legal post to be attained by a black in this country. Confirmation came the following July. He was to serve 21 years on the appellate court bench, three of them as chief judge. He assumed the title of senior judge on his retirement in 1971.
A native of Knoxville, Tenn., Mr. Hastie, who had been a Federal district judge in the Virgin Islands from 1937 to 1939, was elected Governor of the islands in 1946 and served until 1949.
He began his career in the Federal Government in 1933, when he was named an assistant solicitor for the Department of the Interior, advising the agency on racial matters. He was named dean of the Howard University Law School in 1939 after having served for some years as a professor of law.
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In World War II, Judge Hastie served as a civilian aide to Henry L. Stimson, the Secretary of War, but resigned in 1943 in protest over what he called “the reactionary policies and discriminatory ‘ practices” of the Army Air Forces.
Mingling Was at Issue
“The simple fact is,” he said, “that the air command does not want Negro pilots flying in and out of various fields, eating, sleeping and mingling with other personnel, as a service pilot must do in carrying out his various missions.”
In that year, 1943, Mr, Hastie was awarded the Spingarn Medal, given annually at a meeting of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People to the black person who has made “the outstanding contribution to the advancement of the Negro status.”
He held honorary degrees from several colleges and universities and served as a trustee of Amherst College and Temple University.
Surviving are his wife, the former Beryl Lockhart; a son, William H. Jr., who is a lawyer who married a lawyer; a daughter, Karen Williams, also a lawyer, whose husband is lawyer, and a granddaughter.
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There will be a funeral service Saturday at 11 A.M. in the Temple University Baptist Chapel, 1349 Broad Street, Philadelphia.
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Karen Hastie Williams - Wikipedia
Karen Hastie Williams, Barrier-Breaking Lawyer, Dies at 76 - The New York Times (nytimes.com)
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William H. Hastie (Bill) (d)
Amherst Relatives
- Beryl Hastie W1925, P'68, G'01 (d)
Amherst
Reunion Class
- 1925
Graduation Year
- 1925
Major(s)
- German; Mathematics
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William Henry Hastie (1904-1976)
Posted onApril 15, 2007
William Henry Hastie Jr., attorney and diplomat, was born on November 17, 1904 in Knoxville, Tennessee to parents William Henry Hastie Sr. and Roberta Childs. He spent his childhood in Tennessee until his family moved to Washington, D.C. Hastie graduated from Dunbar High School in Washington, D.C. in 1921 and four years later received an A.B. from Amherst College in Massachusetts. where graduated first in his class, magna cum laude, and Phi Beta Kappa.
Following graduation, Hastie was offered fellowships for graduate work at Oxford University and the University of Paris. He decided instead to accept a job at New Jersey’s Bordentown Manual School. He was on the faculty until 1927, when he entered Harvard University Law School.
In 1930, Hastie received his LL.B. from Harvard University. Shortly afterwards he became a member of the Howard University School of Law faculty. Hastie was also admitted to the District of Columbia Bar in 1931 and practiced law with his cousin Charles Hamilton Houston, who later became dean of the Howard University Law School. Hastie returned to Harvard in 1933 to receive an S.J.D.
In 1933, William Hastie became one of the first African American members of the Franklin Roosevelt Administration. He was appointed the president’s race relations advisor. Later he was given the post of assistant solicitor for the Department of Interior. While working for the department, he wrote the constitution for the U.S. Virgin Islands.
In March 1937, Hastie was appointed judge of the Federal District Court in the Virgin Islands by President Roosevelt, becoming the nation’s first African American Federal judge. Hastie served for two years, but he resigned in 1939 to become Dean and Professor of Law at Howard University School of Law.
During his time as dean, Hastie also served as Civilian Aid to Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson from 1940 to 1942. Hastie urged the racial integration of armed forces. In 1942, he resigned in protest because the Army Air Force decided to create a separate training facility for African Americans and returned to his duties at Howard University School of Law. Ironically, his protest prompted the army and navy to begin limited experimentation with integrated units.
In 1946, President Harry Truman appointed Hastie Governor of the Virgin Islands, a post he held until 1949. William Hastie thus became the first African American to hold the post of governor of a U.S. territory. In 1949, President Truman nominated Hastie for Judge of the Third United States Circuit Court of Appeals and on July 19, 1950 the Senate confirmed Hastie for the position. At that time, this was the highest judicial position held by an African American. He retired from the judgeship in 1971.
William Henry Hastie, a member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity and Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity, died on April 14, 1976 at the age of 71. He was survived by his wife, the former Beryl Lockhart, and his children, William H., Jr. and Karen H. Williams.
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Tuffy,
Thank you for sharing this.
I wonder, not as any kind of litmus test or judgment, but merely as a moment of self-reflection, we might ask just how many of our group have actually read Harold Wade’s book, or how many know “Black Women of Amherst College” as more than just a podcast. I am sure that each of us has a different experience in reading these books, but for me personally, I found the experience extremely worthwhile (and occasionally worth repeating).
Mark
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From: Bob Bellinger
Sent: Monday, August 19, 2024 8:48 AM
Everett,
as always thank you for your work.
Tuffy,
thank you for the layers of history that you are always ready to add so that we have a fuller understanding of both an issue and a time period.
Mark,
I appreciate your question. Those books and Everett's (and others) continued research should be required reading for Black students at Amherst, just as attendance at Black Alumni Weekend should be. But that is just my humble opinion.
To answer your question, I have read and made great use of Black Men of Amherst and it was a significant resource for my PhD dissertation - "Hope of the Race: African Americans at Predominantly White Colleges and Universities, 1890-1915." While I have red through Black Women of Amherst it has not received the same detailed attention from me as Harold Wade's since it covered a time period outside of my research.
As a small addition, and it is probably in the Black Women at Amherst but I can't remember, one of the first Black women to attend Amherst was a sister named Joan (don't recall her last name) who was a transfer for a year - I believe it was the 1974-75 academic year. And the first Black Woman graduate, Lucia Butts, was in my class, 1977. A bit of off the record info, the first Black women to live in the Drew House (Phi Psi at the time), were two sisters from Smith. They were defacto residents during the 1975-76 academic year, meaning they had an actual room that was recognized as theirs.
Bob
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Bob:
We had several defacto female residents of Phi Psi/Drew House starting in the early 70s.
Stephen N. Keith ‘73
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Everett “Skip” Jenkins
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From: Bob Bellinger
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