Matthew J. Perry: The Man, His Times, and His Legacy

by W. Lewis Burke Jr. (Editor), Belinda F. Gergel (Editor), Randall L. Kennedy (Introduction)

Overview

The landmark—but largely unsung—career of a civil rights pioneer

Matthew J. Perry: The Man, His Times, and His Legacy chronicles the life and accomplishments of the attorney who led the struggle for desegregation in South Carolina, served as a primary legal advocate in the national civil rights movement, and became South Carolina's first African American U.S. District Court judge. In this volume, scholars of the civil rights era, fellow civil rights activists, jurists, attorneys, a governor, and an award-winning photojournalist join together to produce a multilayered biography of Matthew J. Perry. Collectively they bring to light the remarkable achievements of a man well known in his home state but sometimes obscured on the national stage by the shadows of Thurgood Marshall, J. Waties Waring, and Charles Hamilton Houston.

This volume tells the story of Perry's life, including his humble beginnings in Columbia, his service to the nation during wartime, his remarkable career as a creator of positive social change, and, finally, his achievements as a respected member of the federal judiciary. The contributors describe Perry's courage, skills as an orator, quick legal mind, and genteel nature. They set his story in the turbulent civil–rights–era South, revealing how broad social, historical, and legal issues affected Perry's life and shaped the trajectory of his activist and professional life. The volume underscores how Perry enabled his home state to escape from Jim Crow's clutches with much less turmoil than many of its neighbors.

Published in concert with the dedication of the Matthew J. Perry, Jr. United States Courthouse in Columbia, South Carolina, this life story portrays an esteemed juror whose grace and resiliency led South Carolina into the twentieth century.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781570035340
Publisher:	University of South Carolina Press
Publication date:	05/01/2004
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	312
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.50(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

W. Lewis Burke is a professor of law at the University of South Carolina. He is an editor of At Freedom's Door (University of South Carolina Press, 2000), the story of African American leaders and lawyers during Reconstruction, and the author of many articles on legal history. Burke lives in Columbia.

Table of Contents

	List of Illustrations	vii
	Foreword	ix
	Preface	xi
	Acknowledgments	xv
	Introduction: Matthew J. Perry, a Lawyer with a Cause	1
	The South Carolina State College Law School: Its Roots, Creation, and Legacy	17
	Matthew J. Perry's Preparation	61
	Before Rosa Parks: The Case of Sarah Mae Flemming	81
	A Postscript: Flemming's Role in Matthew J. Perry's Career	95
	Matthew J. Perry's Contribution to the Development of Constitutional Law	104
	Personal Views of Matthew J. Perry: Vignettes	119
	"Chief Counsel,"	119
	Tribute to Matthew J. Perry	120
	A Remembrance of a "Cooperating" Attorney	122
	A View of Matthew J. Perry from Opposing Counsel	123
	An NAACP Field Director Remembers	126
	The Five-Second Rule	127
	The J. Arthur Brown Family: Clients' Reflections on Matthew J. Perry	128
	Recording the Role of Matthew J. Perry	130
	For Freedom and Justice: Photographs	136
	Judge Matthew J. Perry: A Leader	146
	Judge Matthew J. Perry: My Mentor	147
	The Honorable Matthew J. Perry: A Dear Friend and Wise Colleague	151
	A Life Changed	152
	The Civil Rights Advocate	155
	Dining with Harvey Gantt: Myth and Realities of "Integration with Dignity"	183
	Memory, History, and Community: The Assimilation of Houstonian Principles in the Career of Matthew J. Perry	221
	Unfinished Transformation: Matthew J. Perry's South Carolina	238
	Index	263

What People are Saying About This

The Honorable Ernest F. Hollings

If the civil rights struggle were a war, Matthew Perry would receive the Congressional Medal of Honor. He wasn't a billable hours lawyer. He wasn't even a trial lawyer that got paid when he won. He was a trial lawyer who seldom got compensated, was ridiculed, insulted, abused, and jailed for what the legal profession takes for granted. But he persisted and won. Leading the struggle, working around the clock with warmth, dignity, and good humor, he now presides with experienced judgment.

Darlene Clark Hine

This impressive volume pays exuberant and well-deserved attention to the outstanding achievements of Matthew J. Perry. It makes an important contribution to the history of the legal profession in the South and deepens our understanding of the heroic struggles of the black bar to achieve freedom of opportunity for all. The singular life of this great jurist demonstrates how an individual can make the world a better place.

The State (Columbia)

The book's readable essays offer a vivid window into South Carolina's segregationist culture and civil rights struggles of the 1950s and 1960s.

Eric Foner

Matthew J. Perry, like many civil rights lawyers, has been obscured by the shadow of Thurgood Marshall and Charles Hamilton Houston. This impressive collection of essays by distinguished scholars is an important step toward restoring Judge Perry to the prominence he deserves.

Michael Kent Curtis

This fine book makes an important contribution to the public's understanding of American, southern, and South Carolina history—and American legal history—particularly from the 1940s to the present. Its value is enhanced by its timeliness and the reality that the era of the Civil Rights Movement is rapidly fading from public memory.

The Honorable James E. Clyburn

An extraordinary testament to an extraordinary man. The editors have compiled a compelling and comprehensive look at the contributions of Matthew Perry. I was so inspired by his work that my first legislative act in Congress was to designate a federal courthouse in his honor. This book chronicles why Perry is so worthy of this recognition. I hope it serves to inspire the next generation, as this humble man has inspired me.