NationMaster - Encyclopedia: George Crockett

George William Crockett Jr. (August 10, 1909 - September 7, 1997) was an African American attorney, jurist, and politician from the U.S. state of Michigan. He also served as a national vice-president of the National Lawyers Guild and co-founded what is believed to be the first racially-integrated law firm in the United States. He was associated with the history of the infamous murder of civil rights activists James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner. The United States House of Representatives (or simply the House) is one of the two chambers of the United States Congress; the other is the Senate. ... Official language(s) None (English, de-facto) Capital Lansing Largest city Detroit Area Ranked 11th - Total 97,990 sq mi (253,793 kmÂ²) - Width 239 miles (385 km) - Length 491 miles (790 km) - % water 41. ... Map United States House of Representatives, Michigan District 13 is a United States Congressional district in Detroit, Michigan. ... December 13 is the 347th day of the year (348th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar). ... January 3 is the 3rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the 1991 Gregorian calendar). ... Charles Coles Diggs, Jr. ... Barbara-Rose Collins (born April 13, 1939) is a politician from the U.S. state of Michigan. ... September 7 is the 250th day of the year (251st in leap years). ... 1997 (MCMXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... ... August 10 is the 222nd day of the year (223rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1909 (MCMIX) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Motto: Where Florida Begins Location in the state of Florida Coordinates: , Country United States State Florida County Duval Government - Mayor John Peyton (R) Area - City 885 sq mi (2,264. ... The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, the other being the Republican Party. ... Topics in Christianity Movements Â· Denominations Ecumenism Â· Preaching Â· Prayer Music Â· Liturgy Â· Calendar Symbols Â· Art Â· Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul Â· Church Fathers Constantine Â· Athanasius Â· Augustine Anselm Â· Aquinas Â· Palamas Â· Wycliffe Tyndale Â· Luther Â· Calvin Â· Wesley Arius Â· Marcion of Sinope Pope Â· Patriarch of Constantinople Christianity Portal This box: Baptist is a term describing individuals belonging... August 10 is the 222nd day of the year (223rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1909 (MCMIX) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... September 7 is the 250th day of the year (251st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1997 (MCMXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... An African American (also Afro-American, Black American, or simply black) is a member of an ethnic group in the United States whose ancestors, usually in predominant part, were indigenous to Africa. ... Federal courts Supreme Court Chief Justice Associate Justices Elections Presidential elections Midterm elections Political Parties Democratic Republican Third parties State & Local government Governors Legislatures (List) State Courts Counties/Parishes/Boroughs, Cities, and Towns Other countries Politics Portal A U.S. state is any one of the fifty subnational entities of... Official language(s) None (English, de-facto) Capital Lansing Largest city Detroit Area Ranked 11th - Total 97,990 sq mi (253,793 kmÂ²) - Width 239 miles (385 km) - Length 491 miles (790 km) - % water 41. ... The National Lawyers Guild is a progressive Bar Association in the United States for lawyers and law students, as well as paralegals, legal secretaries, jailhouse lawyers, and other legal workers. ...

Early life

George Crockett was born in Jacksonville, Florida to George William Crockett, Sr. (1883 - 1975) and Minnie Amelia Jenkins (1884 - 1983), who had two other children Alzeda Crockett and John Frazier Crockett. George Sr. pastored the Harmony Baptist Church in Jacksonville for more than 30 years and mastered the carpentry trade. George Sr. became a railroad carpenter for the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad. His son, George Jr., would later build room additions and continue practicing carpentry for pleasure in adulthood. Minnie, a gentle woman, Sunday School teacher and poet, said in a November 23, 1969 Times-Union Journal (Jacksonville) article, "My philosophy is that children should be ahead of their parents, should climb a step higher and make a contribution to the family and to society." George Jr. took his mother's philosophy to heart. Motto: Where Florida Begins Location in the state of Florida Coordinates: , Country United States State Florida County Duval Government - Mayor John Peyton (R) Area - City 885 sq mi (2,264. ... The Atlantic Coast Line Railroad (AAR reporting mark ACL) was an American railroad that existed between 1880s and 1967, when it merged with the Seaboard Air Line Railroad, its longtime rival, to form the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad. ...

Education

Crockett graduated from Stanton High School in Jacksonville. In 1931, he received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Morehouse College, Atlanta, Georgia, a prestigious, historically-black university that awarded its first degrees in 1897. He was later given an Honorary L.L.D. from Morehouse in 1972; was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa; and served as a Trustee of the College for many years. During his Morehouse tenure, Crockett pledged Kappa Alpha Psi. A B.A. issused as a certificate Bachelor of Arts (B.A., BA or A.B.), from the Latin Artium Baccalaureus is an undergraduate bachelors degree awarded for either a course or a program in the liberal arts or the sciences, or both. ... Morehouse College is a private, all-male, historically black liberal arts college in Atlanta, Georgia. ... Hotlanta redirects here. ...

Crockett received a law degree from the University of Michigan in 1934 and returned to Jacksonville to practice law that year as one of very few African American attorneys in the state of Florida. The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (UM, U of M or U-M) is a coeducational public research university in the state of Michigan. ...

As a Lawyer

Crockett participated in the founding convention of the the nation’s first racially integrated bar association, the National Lawyers Guild in 1937, and later served that organization as its national vice-president. The National Lawyers Guild is a progressive Bar Association in the United States for lawyers and law students, as well as paralegals, legal secretaries, jailhouse lawyers, and other legal workers. ...

As the first African American lawyer in the U.S. Department of Labor, 1939-1943, Crockett worked as a senior attorney on employment cases brought under the National Labor Relations Act, a legislative program of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal. Crockett also worked as a hearing officer in the Federal Fair Employment Practices Commission during 1943. The United States Department of Labor is a Cabinet department of the United States government responsible for occupational safety, wage and hour standards, unemployment insurance benefits, re-employment services, and some economic statistics. ... President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signs the act. ... The New Deal was the title President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave to the series of programs he initiated between 1933 and 1938 with the goal of providing relief, recovery, and reform (3 Rs) to the people and economy of the United States during the Great Depression. ...

That same year the United Auto Workers retained Crockett to run the union’s Fair Practices Committee, which tried to oppose so-called “hate strikes” by white workers, who protested the migration North by Black workers. The United Auto Workers (UAW), headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, officially the United Automobile, Aerospace & Agricultural Implement Workers of America International Union, is one of the largest labor unions in North America, with more than 500,000 members in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico organized into approximately 950 union...

In 1946, Crockett along with partners Ernest Goodman, Morton Eden, and Dean A. Robb, co-founded the corporation believed to be the first racially-integrated law firm in the U.S.,^{[citation needed]} Goodman, Crockett, Eden, and Robb, in Detroit, Michigan. The firm, eventually called Goodman, Eden, Millender and Bedrosian,closed in 1998.

In 1948, Crockett became a member of the legal team that went to New York to defend 11 Communist Party leaders accused of teaching the overthrow of the Federal government, a violation of the Smith Act. Among the 11 were Communist Party leaders: Gil Green, Eugene Dennis, Henry Winston, John Gates, Gus Hall, Robert G. Thompson and fellow Morehouse alumnus and first black New York City Councilman Benjamin J. Davis. In 1949, while defending the Smith Act prosecution, Crockett and four other defense attorneys were sentenced by Judge Harold Medina to Federal prison for contempt of court. Crockett served four months in an Ashland, Kentucky Federal prison in 1952. A portion of Crockett's jury summarion at the trial was published in "Freedom is Everybody's Job!: The Crime of the Government Against the Negro People, Summation in the trial of the 11 Communist leaders." John Gates, born Solomon Regenstriet in New York City in 1913, was a prominent American Communist. ... Gus Hall Gus Hall (October 8, 1910 â€“ October 13, 2000) was a labor organizer, a founder of the United Steelworkers of America trade union, a leader of the Communist Party USA, and five-time U.S. presidential candidate. ... Benjamin J. Ben Davis (September 8, 1903 - August 22, 1964), was an African-American communist who was elected to the city council of New York City, representing Harlem, in 1943. ... The Alien Registration Act or Smith Act () of 1940 is a United States federal statute that made it a criminal offense for anyone to knowingly or willfully advocate, abet, advise or teach the duty, necessity, desirability or propriety of overthrowing the Government of the United States or of any State... Harold Raymond Medina, Sr. ...

Crockett’s criticism of McCarthyism and the House Un-American Activities Committee grew after that case, and in 1952 he represented future Detroit mayor Coleman Young and the Rev. Charles A. Hill before the Committee. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... A 1947 comic book published by the Catechetical Guild Educational Society warning of the dangers of a Communist takeover. ... HUAC hearings House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC or HCUA) (1938â€“1975) was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

As large numbers of young civil rights volunteers traveled to the U.S. South in the spring of 1964, Crockett recruited lawyers from the National Lawyers Guild to follow them. He founded the National Lawyers Guild’s office in Jackson, Mississippi, and managed the Mississippi Project (a coalition of the NLG and other leading civil rights legal organizations) during the 1964 Freedom Summer. Nickname: Coordinates: Country United States State Mississippi County Hinds Founded 1822 Government - Mayor Frank Melton Area - City 106. ... Freedom Summer was a campaign in the United States launched during the summer of 1964 to attempt to register as many African American voters as possible in the State of Mississippi, which up to that time had almost totally excluded black voters. ...

The infamous murders of the civil rights workers James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner occurred in June of that year. The three had been arrested by local police while investigating the arson of a Black church near Philadelphia, Mississippi. Collaborating with local white supremacist vigilantes, the Neshoba County sheriff released the three men from jail late at night, and other civil rights workers reported their disappearance. James Chaney James Earl Chaney (May 30, 1943 â€“ June 21, 1964) was a civil rights worker who was murdered (along with Michael Schwerner and Andrew Goodman) by members of the Ku Klux Klan. ... Andrew Goodman Andrew Goodman (November 23, 1943 â€“ June 21, 1964) was an American civil rights activist who was murdered by gunshot in 1964 By the Ku Klux Klan. ... Michael Schwerner Michael Schwerner (November 6, 1939 â€“ June 21, 1964), called Mickey by friends and colleagues, was a CORE field worker killed in Philadelphia, Mississippi, by the Ku Klux Klan in response to the civil-rights work he coordinated, which included promoting registration to vote among Mississippi African Americans. ... Philadelphia is a city located in Neshoba County, Mississippi. ... Neshoba County is a county located in the state of Mississippi. ...

From the NLG office in Jackson, Crockett dispatched Guild lawyers to search for the missing men. The effort was in vain, and, years later, Crockett described his growing despair in the 1995 PBS documentary Mississippi America, narrated by Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee. Ossie Davis in The Green Pastures, photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1951 Ossie Davis (December 18, 1917 â€“ February 4, 2005) was an African American film actor, director and social activist. ... Ruby Dee (born October 27, 1924) is an African American actress, poet, playwright, screenwriter, journalist, and activist. ...

In the film, Crockett recounts his drive from Jackson to Meridian in a personal search for the missing men. He survived an effort of the sheriff to arrange his ambush by loudly offering driving directions, while white supremacists loitered nearby. Crockett returned safely to Jackson. He offered a full report to the Justice Department and the FBI, who refused to take the information. The murdered bodies of the 3 young men, one Black, two white, were found days later. Nickname: Coordinates: Country United States State Mississippi County Hinds Founded 1822 Government - Mayor Frank Melton Area - City 106. ... Meridian is a city located in, and the county seat of, Lauderdale County in Mississippi, a state of the United States of America. ...

As a Judge

In 1965, Crockett became a candidate for the Detroit Common Council. Bob Millender guided his campaign. Crockett lost by a small margin "after he had been severely red-baited in the election, according to his former law partner Ernie Goodman (A Tribute to George W. Crockett, Jr, privately published, 1997.)

In 1966, Crockett was elected Judge of Recorder's Court, Wayne County, Michigan. The court handled criminal cases. From that bench, Judge Crockett incurred the wrath of the white corporate media and endured death threats for his role in a highly-publicized police shooting, raid, and mass arrest. The Recorders Court, in Detroit, Michigan was a state court of general jurisdiction which had, for most of its history, exclusive jurisdiction over all felony cases committed in the city of Detroit. ... Wayne County is a county in the U.S. state of Michigan. ...

On March 29, 1969, following an officer-involved shooting outside New Bethel Baptist Church in which a Detroit police officer died, police officers fired into and stormed the church. A Nationalist organization, the Republic of New Afrika, had rented the church for a meeting. Witnesses in the majority African-American neighborhood later stated that the responding officers had all been white. More than one-hundred fifty persons, including juveniles, were arrested inside the church and taken to police headquarters. The church pastor called Judge Crockett before dawn. The Republic of New Africa flag is that first used by Marcus Garvey. ...

Crockett opened temporary court at police headquarters. In refusing to find probable cause to hold the people from what he termed a “collective punishment” mass arrest, Judge Crockett released 130 of the arrested persons and questioning. In the controversy that followed, Detroit saw the appearance of bumper stickers that read, “Sock It to Crockett” and "Impeach Judge Crockett". The police association organized a picket line at the courthouse. The black community and interracial civic organizations supported Crockett.

In 1974, Crockett was elected Chief Judge of the Detroit's Recorder's Court. He served there until retiring in 1978.

As a Congressman

In November 1980, as the candidate of the Democratic Party from Michigan's 13th congressional district, Crockett was elected in a special election to the 96th Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Charles C. Diggs, Jr. from the U.S. House of Representatives. Dennis W. Archer ran Crockett's successful election [[1]campaign]. The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, the other being the Republican Party. ... Map United States House of Representatives, Michigan District 13 is a United States Congressional district in Detroit, Michigan. ... // 1979-1980 The first session of this Congress took place in Washington, DC from January 15, 1979 to January 3, 1980. ... Charles Coles Diggs, Jr. ... The House of Representatives is the larger of two houses that make up the U.S. Congress, the other being the United States Senate. ... Dennis Wayne Archer is the president of the American Bar Association, and is the first African American to hold this office. ...

Crockett was simultaneously elected to a full term in the 97th Congress and was subsequently re-elected to the next four Congresses, serving from November 4, 1980, to January 3, 1991. Speaker of the House Thomas "Tip" O'Neill swore in 71-year old Crockett in the presence of Crockett's wife Dr. Harriette Clark Crockett, son, and 96-year old mother, Mrs. Minnie Crockett. She recited a poem she composed many years earlier titled, Our Children Three. Ninety-seventh United States Congress Members of the 97th United States Congress: States Alabama Senators Howell T. Heflin (D) Jeremiah Denton (R) Representatives 1. ... November 4 is the 308th day of the year (309th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar). ... January 3 is the 3rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the 1991 Gregorian calendar). ...

During his tenure, Crockett was a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, the Democratic Study Group, the Congressional Caucus on Women's Issues, and the Congressional Arts Caucus. He also served on the House Judiciary, the Select Committee on Aging, and Foreign Affairs Committees. As a member of the Africa Subcommittee, Crocket authored the Mandela Freedom Resolution, HB.430, which called upon the South Africa government to release Nelson Mandela and his wife Winnie Mandela from imprisonment and banning. The resolution was passed by both houses of Congress in 1984. Later, Crockett continued to denounce apartheid in South Africa and was jailed with Detroit Mayor Coleman A. Young and others for demonstrating in Washington, DC against apartheid. The Congressional Black Caucus is an organization representing African American members of the Congress of the United States. ... Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (IPA pronunciation: //) (born July 18, 1918) was the first President of South Africa to be elected in fully-representative democratic elections. ... Winnie Madikizela-Mandela (born September 26, 1934 or 1936), born Nomzamo Winifred Zanyiwe Madikizela, is the ex-wife of former South African president (May 1994-June 1999) and African National Congress leader Nelson Mandela. ... A segregated beach in South Africa, 1982. ...

Crockett filed suite against the Reagan administration claiming violation of the Wars Powers Act in providing El Salvador with military aid (Crockett v. Reagan, 720 F.2d 1355 (C.A.D.C., 1983).

Crockett chaired the Foreign Affairs' Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere Affairs from 1987 until his retirement.

On Wednesday, March 28, 1990 Crockett announced on the House Floor: "Mr. Speaker, a few days ago the press carried the story on the death of the Honorable Harold Medina, who was the judge who presided over the famous communist trials in New York back in 1949 and 1950. In the course of that trial, Judge Medina sentenced the five defense lawyers to prison. I'm the only living survivor of those five defense lawyers.

"During the four months that I served in a federal prison, it never occurred to me that one day I would also serve in the United States Congress and be a member of the committee having oversight jurisdiction over all federal judges and all federal prisons.

"Today, Mr. Speaker, I rise to inform my colleagues that I have decided to retire from the House at the conclusion of the 101st Congress. After 68 years of working, championing unpopular causes, I'm hoping to enjoy a little time off.... I've been privileged to serve the people of Michigan's 13th District in this body, and it has been a challenge and an honor I will always cherish."

Representative John Conyers, also from Detroit, described Crockett's annoucement by saying "When he finished, all the members stood and clapped." Source: Detroit Free Press, March 29, 1990, p. 15A. John Conyers, Jr. ...

Family Life

George and Ethelene Crockett had three children: Elizabeth Crockett Hicks, George W. Crockett III, and Dr. Ethelene Crockett Jones. George III also served on the Recorders Court. George Jr. had eight grandchildren: Wayne, Charles, Kyra, Kimberly, Kelly, LeBeau and Enrique, and eight great-grandchildren. One nephew, Rear Admiral Benjamin Thurman Hacker (1935-2003) was a U.S. Navy officer, who became the first Naval Flight Officer to achieve Flag rank. Rear Admiral Benjamin Thurman Hacker (1935-2003) was a U.S. Navy officer, who became the first Naval Flight Officer (NFO) to achieve Flag rank. ...

Crockett is buried in Laurel, Delaware in the New Zion United Methodist Church cemetary, with his parents and other generations of Crocketts and within walking distance from Crockett Street, named in honor of the Crockett family.

Honors

Crockett received an Honorary L.L.D. from Morehouse College in 1972. Morehouse College is a private, all-male, historically black liberal arts college in Atlanta, Georgia. ...

In 1972, the Cotillion Club of Detroit, co-founded in 1949 by Dr. William Emmett Lawson, presented an award to Crockett, attorney Kenneth Cockrel, and Judge Damon Keith.

In 1986, awarded annual the Kappa Alpha Psi Laural Wreath Commission for extra meritorious achievement.

In 1998, the George Crockett Academy opened in Detroit. Nearly 400 students attend the K-8 charter school.

The George Crockett Consortium High School, also in Detroit, is open to grades 9 - 12.

George's wife of 45 years, Ethelene, was also celebrated with a Detroit school in her honor, the Ethelene Jones Crockett Technical High School.

References

Categories: Articles with unsourced statements since March 2007 | All articles with unsourced statements | 1909 births | 1997 deaths | African American politicians | African Americans in the United States Congress | Morehouse College alumni | University of Michigan alumni | Members of the United States House of Representatives from Michigan The Biographical Directory of the United States Congress is a biographical dictionary of all members of both houses of the United States Congress, past and present. ... Charles Coles Diggs, Jr. ... These are tables of congressional delegations from Michigan to the United States Senate and United States House of Representatives. ... Barbara-Rose Collins (born April 13, 1939) is a politician from the U.S. state of Michigan. ...

Contents

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