William Henry Richards papers, 1856-1946

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Biographical Note

Date	Event
1856, Jan. 15	Born, Athens, Tenn., to emancipated parents
1860	Orphaned, raised by his grandmother, Hannah Richards
1864	Attended Society of Friends mission school, Athens, Tenn.
1873-1876	School teacher, Mt. Harmony, Tenn., and Society of Friends mission school, Athens, Tenn.
1877	Attended Warner Institute, Jonesboro, Tenn.
1878	Entered Howard University, Washington, D.C.
1881	Graduated valedictorian, Howard University, Washington, D.C.
1881-1885	Clerk, Treasury Department, Washington, D.C.
1882	Received L.L.M. from Howard University Law School, Washington, D.C.
1886	Returned to Athens, Tenn.
1887	Admitted to Tennessee bar
1888	Elected delegate to congressional and state Republican Party conventions, Tenn.
1887-1888	Elected town alderman, Athens, Tenn.
1888-1889	Elected mayor, Athens, Tenn. First African American mayor of a town below the Mason-Dixon Line
1889-1890	Clerk, United States Post Office, Washington, D.C.
1890	Professor of international law, law of evidence, and personal property, Law Department of Howard University, Washington, D.C.
1890-1891	Clerk, Interior Department, Washington, D.C.
1891	Admitted to bar of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia on the motion of William Henry Harrison Hart
1896-1908	President, Howard University Union Alumni Association, Washington, D.C.
1898-1900	President, Bethel Literary and Historical Association of Washington, D.C.
1902	Completed a study of the professional income of Howard University Law School alumni, Washington, D.C.
1903	Granted permission to argue before the Supreme Court on the motion of Mason N. Richardson
1905	Norwood v. Francis, decision gave married women in the District of Columbia the right to be a partner in a joint stock company
1928	Retired
1941, Jan. 27	Died, Washington, D.C.