Charles Douglas Langford (December 9, 1922 – February 11, 2007) was an Alabama state senator who represented Rosa Parks in the famous civil rights case of the 1960s. Attorney Langford served in the Alabama Legislature as a State Representative, District 77, Montgomery County, from 1976 to 1983, and as a State Senator, District 26, Montgomery County, from 1983 to 2002. He was the sixth child of Nathan G. and Lucy Brown Langford. Mr. Langford was one of two black lawyers in Montgomery at this time.

Early education

Langford completed two years at Tuskegee Institute before being drafted in the US Army during World War II, where he served overseas as a truck driver in the European Theater Operation. Langford had an honorable discharge from the Army in 1946. Langford earned his law degree at

The Catholic University of America The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private Catholic research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is one of two pontifical universities of the Catholic Church in the United States – the only one that is not primarily ...

. He had earned his undergraduate degree at

Tennessee State University Tennessee State University (Tennessee State, Tenn State, or TSU) is a public historically black land-grant university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1912, it is the only state-funded historically black university in Tennes ...

in 1948. He was a partner in the law firm of Gray, Langford, Sapp, McGowan, Gray and Nathanson.

Cases

Langford was also a lawyer who represented civil rights activist

Rosa Parks Rosa Louise McCauley Parks (February 4, 1913 – October 24, 2005) was an American civil rights activist. She is best known for her refusal to move from her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama, bus, in defiance of Jim Crow laws, which sparke ...

subsequent to her arrest on December 1, 1955, for refusing to give up her seat to a white man on a Montgomery bus. In 1993, representing a group of black legislators, Langford helped end the flying of a Confederate battle flag from the dome of the State Capitol in Montgomery. In 1964 he represented Arlam Carr in a lawsuit against Montgomery's Board of Education that led to the desegregation of the city's public schools.

Later life

In 1953, he was admitted to the

Alabama State Bar The Alabama State Bar is the integrated (mandatory) bar association of the U.S. state of Alabama. Established in 1923, the association is governed by th1975 Alabama Code, Title 34, Chapter 3 It is the "licensing and regulatory agency for attor ...

, and opened his law office on Monroe Street in Montgomery. Langford stayed in Montgomery and continued to represent local African-Americans in civil rights cases. He served five terms in the Senate before retiring in 2002. Survivors include a sister, Mattie Lee Langford. Langford died on February 11, 2007, at his home in Montgomery. He was 84. Langford died in his sleep, his niece Audrey Anderson told The Associated Press.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Langford, Charles 1922 births 2007 deaths Alabama lawyers Columbus School of Law alumni Tennessee State University alumni Alabama state senators African-American state legislators in Alabama Activists for African-American civil rights United States Army personnel of World War II Democratic Party members of the Alabama House of Representatives Politicians from Birmingham, Alabama Activists from Birmingham, Alabama Lawyers from Birmingham, Alabama 20th-century American lawyers United States Army soldiers 20th-century African-American politicians 20th-century African-American lawyers 21st-century members of the Alabama Legislature 21st-century African-American politicians 20th-century members of the Alabama Legislature