TT&H Law Clerk, Alexandra Mitchell, Attends Posthumous Bar Admission Ceremony for Edward Garrison Draper

Alexandra Mitchell, a law clerk in the firm’s Baltimore, MD office and a third-year student at the University of Baltimore School of Law, recently attended the historical posthumous bar admission ceremony for Edward Garrison Draper.  Edward Garrison Draper was a free black man who was over qualified to be admitted to the Maryland Bar.  In 1857, Mr. Draper presented himself to Judge Zacheus Collins Lee, who tested Mr. Draper’s legal knowledge and qualifications to practice law in Maryland.  Judge Lee wrote that Mr. Draper was “intelligent,” “well-informed,” and “qualified in all respects” to be admitted to the Maryland Bar if he was a “free white citizen.”  Mr. Draper is the oldest known black man in Maryland fully qualified to practice law, but denied admission based solely on his race – because Maryland Bar admission was “the exclusive province of white men.”

Retired Texas Justice John Browning published an article relating to Mr. Draper in the University of Baltimore’s Law Forum Fall 2022 edition.  He then presented his research at the University of Baltimore Law Forum Symposium in February 2023.  Among others, those in attendance included Chief Justice Matthew Fader of the Supreme Court of Maryland.  In March 2023, Justice Browning, University of Baltimore Law Professor Jose Anderson, and Maryland attorney Domonique Flowers, petitioned the Supreme Court of Maryland for Mr. Draper’s posthumous admission to the Maryland Bar.  On October 26, 2023, the Supreme Court of Maryland acted on that Petition and posthumously admitted Mr. Draper to the Maryland Bar.

Alexandra Mitchell is the current Managing Editor of Volume 54 of the University of Baltimore Law Forum Journal.  Last year, as a staff editor, Alexandra helped edit Justice Browning’s article on Mr. Draper’s life.  She was among those invited to attend Mr. Draper’s recent posthumous admission ceremony.  A Washington Post article summarizing the event Alexandra recently attended can be found via this link: https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2023/10/26/edward-garrison-draper-maryland-bar/.  The Law Forum’s Fall 2022 publication, which includes Justice Browning’s article on Edward Garrison Draper’s life, can be found via the following link: https://ublawforum.files.wordpress.com/2023/05/final-53.1-pdf.pdf.

For more information, please contact Alexandra at (443) 641-0563 ext. 8708 or amitchell@tthlaw.com.