Education
He was born in (Richmond, Virginia and graduated from Brown University in 1915, and then earned a law degree from Howard University School of Law in 1918.
He was born in (Richmond, Virginia and graduated from Brown University in 1915, and then earned a law degree from Howard University School of Law in 1918.
He was the lead attorney in Bolling v. Sharpe (1954). In 1955 he became the first African American to serve on the District of Columbia Public Utilities Commission. He taught at Howard University School of Law starting in 1924 while he maintained a private practice in the District of Columbia.
In 1954 with Spottswood William Robinson III, he was the lead counsel on Bolling v.
Sharpe, the companion case to Brown v. Board of Education. Hayes argued that denying African American students the liberty to attend non-segregated schools violated due process.
Bolling was decided under the Fifth Amendment"s due process clause while Brown was decided under the Fourteenth Amendment"s Equal Protection Clause. In 1955 he became the first African American to serve on the District of Columbia Public Utilities Commission.
He died on December 20, 1968.
