Education
Howard University.
Howard University.
In 1951, Robinson and Hill took up the cause of the African-American students at the segregated Railroad Moton High School in Farmville, Virginia who had walked out of their dilapidated school. The subsequent lawsuit, Davis v. County School Board of Prince Edward County, was consolidated with four other cases decided under Brown v.
Board of Education by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1954.
In his arguments before the Court, Robinson made the first argument on behalf of the plaintiffs. In 1966, Robinson was appointed by President Lyndon B. Johnson to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, the first African-American so appointed and, later, became the first African-American to serve as chief judge of the District of Columbia Circuit.
Robinson was born in Richmond, Virginia on 26 July 1916. His father was a lawyer
He received his undergraduate degree from Virginia Union University.
Through the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Legal Defense Fund he worked on cases such as Brown v. Board of Education, which ended segregation in public schools, and Chance v. Lambeth, which invalidated carrier-enforced racial segregation in interstate transportation.
Robinson was named dean of the Howard University School of Law in 1960, remaining in that position through 1963.
In 1964, he became the first African-American to be appointed the United States district court for the District of Columbia. In 1966, Robinson became the first African-American appointed to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, when he was appointed by President Lyndon Johnson.
On May 7, 1981, he became the first African-American to serve as chief judge of the District of Columbia Circuit Court. Robinson took senior status in 1989 and later retired.
Robinson died on October 11, 1998 in Richmond, Virginia.
United States. Commission of Civil Rights, 1961–1963
Howard University School of Law, professor/dean, 1960–1963
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, southeast regional counsel, 1951–1960
Virginia National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Legal Defense and Educational Fund, counsel/representative, 1948–1950
Richmond, Virginia, private practice, 1943–1960
Howard University School of Law, faculty, 1939–1948.
He was a faculty member of the Howard University School of Law from his graduation in 1939 until 1947, and was one of the core attorneys of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Legal Defense and Educational Fund (LDF) from 1948 to 1960. He also served as a member of the United States Commission on Civil Rights, from 1961 to 1963.