List of first minority male lawyers and judges in Arkansas

This is a list of the first minority male lawyer(s) and judge(s) in Arkansas. It includes the year in which the men were admitted to practice law (in parentheses). Also included are other distinctions such as the first minority men in their state to graduate from law school or become a political figure.

Firsts in Arkansas' history

Lawyers

First African American male: Thomas P. Johnson (1866)

First African American male to join a major Arkansas law firm: Wendell L. Griffen in 1984

State judges

First African American male (justice of the peace): John Milo Alexander

First African American male: Mifflin Wistar Gibbs in 1873

First African American male (Arkansas Supreme Court): George Howard Jr. (1954) in 1977

First African American male (Arkansas Court of Appeals): George Howard Jr. (1954) in 1979

First African American male (Eleventh Judicial District Court): Jesse Kearney (1979) in 1988

First African American male (county court): Henry "Hank" Wilkins IV in 2017

Federal judges

First Jewish American male (U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas): Jacob Trieber in 1900

First African American male (U.S. District Courts for the Eastern and Western Districts of Arkansas): George Howard Jr. (1954) in 1980

First African American male (Chief Judge; U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit in Arkansas): Lavenski Smith (1987) in 2017

Attorney General of Arkansas

First African American male: Leon Johnson in 2003

Assistant Attorney General

First African American male: Rob Morehead

Arkansas Bar Association

First African American male admitted: Wiley A. Branton, Sr. (1952)

First African American male (president): Eddie Haywood Walker Jr.