Adelbert H. Roberts (August 20, 1866 – January 26, 1937) was an American politician and attorney who in 1924 became the first

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

to serve in the

Illinois Senate The Illinois Senate is the upper chamber of the Illinois General Assembly, the legislative branch of the government of the State of Illinois in the United States. The body was created by the first state constitution adopted in 1818. Under the ...

Biography

Roberts was born August 20, 1866, in

Decatur, Michigan Decatur is a village in Van Buren County, Michigan, United States. The population was 1,819 at the 2010 census. The village is located within Decatur Township. History Decatur Township and the Village of Decatur are named after Stephen Decat ...

. He graduated from high school at 17 and became a teacher. He took Ph.D. coursework at

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

before attending

Northwestern University School of Law The Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law (formerly known as Northwestern University School of Law from 1891 to 2015) is the law school of Northwestern University, a Private university, private research university. The law school is l ...

. In 1895, he married Lula Wiley with whom he would have four children. In 1918, Roberts, a skilled orator, was elected to the

Illinois House of Representatives The Illinois House of Representatives is the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly. The body was created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. The House under the constitution as amended in 1980 consists of 118 representativ ...

as a Republican. After the Chicago race riot of 1919, Governor Frank Orren Lowden's appointed Roberts, then in his second term on the Senate, to the

Chicago Commission on Race Relations The Chicago Commission on Race Relations was a non-partisan, interracial investigative committee, appointed by Illinois governor Frank Lowden. The commission was set up after the Chicago riots of July and August 1919 in "which thirty-eight lives ...

created in response to the incident. He used the position to "urge action to address labor and housing discrimination in Chicago". His civil rights activism extended to his being a close friend of civil rights pioneer Booker T. Washington. Said to be concerned with the morals of those he represented, he was on the Liquor Commission. He was appointed to the Illinois Senate in 1924 to fill a vacancy and elected to the Senate in 1926 and 1930 where he served as chairman of the criminal procedures committee. During his tenure in the Senate, he was a resident of the

Douglas Douglas may refer to: People * Douglas (given name) * Douglas (surname) Animals * Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking * Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civil ...

community area (the 3rd district).''Illinois Blue Book 1933–1934''
p. 121. In 1987, a statue honoring him was commissioned and displayed on the second floor of the state capitol rotunda. Roberts died January 26, 1937, in Chicago. In 1984, Senator Margaret Smith and Representative Howard B. Brookins Sr. successfully campaigned to have a statue of Roberts installed in the Capitol rotunda.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, Adelbert H. 1866 births 1937 deaths 20th-century American lawyers African-American state legislators in Illinois Illinois lawyers Republican Party Illinois state senators Republican Party members of the Illinois House of Representatives Monmouth College alumni People from Van Buren County, Michigan Politicians from Chicago University of Michigan alumni 20th-century African-American politicians 20th-century African-American lawyers 20th-century members of the Illinois General Assembly