Eunice Roberta Hunton Carter (July 16, 1897 – January 25, 1970) was an American lawyer. She was one of New York's first female

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

lawyers and one of the first African-American prosecutors in the United States. She was active in the

Pan-African Congress The Pan-African Congress (PAC) is a regular series of meetings which first took place on the back of the Pan-African Conference held in London in 1900. The Pan-African Congress first gained a reputation as a peacemaker for decolonization in ...

and in

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

committees to advance the status of women in the world. She led a massive prostitution racketeering investigation, building the case and strategy that allowed New York

District Attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, county prosecutor, state attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or solicitor is the chief prosecutor or chief law enforcement officer represen ...

Thomas Dewey to successfully charge Mafioso kingpin Charles "Lucky" Luciano with compulsory prostitution.

Early life and education

Carter was born in Atlanta in 1897, the daughter of William Alphaeus Hunton Sr. (founder of the black division of the Y.M.C.A.) and

Addie Waites Hunton Addie Waites Hunton (June 11, 1866 – June 22, 1943) was an African Americans, African-American Women's suffrage in the United States, suffragist, race and gender activist, writer, political organizer, and educator. In 1889, Hunton became the fir ...

(a social worker); both were college educated. Her paternal grandfather Stanton Hunton purchased his freedom from slavery before the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

. Her brother, W. Alphaeus Hunton Jr., was an author, academic and activist noted for his involvement with the Council on African Affairs and promotion of Pan-African identity. The family moved from Atlanta to

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, after the 1906 Atlanta race riot. They attended local schools. Their mother, Addie Hunton, was active with the

NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is an American civil rights organization formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. B. Du&nbs ...

and the

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches w ...

, achieving national status. She was selected as one of two women to go to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

to check on the condition of United States black servicemen. Eunice graduated in four years from

Smith College Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts, United States. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smit ...

in Northampton, Massachusetts, receiving a

bachelor's A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ( ...

and at the same time, in 1921, a M.S.W. degree from the college's recently formed School for Social Work. After a brief time as a social worker, she decided to study law. In 1932, Carter became the first black woman to receive a

law degree A law degree is an academic degree conferred for studies in law. Some law degrees are professional degrees that are prerequisites or serve as preparation for legal careers. These generally include the Bachelor of Civil Law, Bachelor of Laws, an ...

from

Fordham University Fordham University is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in New York City, United States. Established in 1841, it is named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the Bronx in which its origina ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

(Gray, 2007, n.p). In mid-May 1933, Eunice Carter passed the New York

bar exam A bar examination is an examination administered by the bar association of a jurisdiction that a lawyer must pass in order to be admitted to the bar of that jurisdiction. Australia Administering bar exams is the responsibility of the bar associat ...

(''Two New York Women'', 6). Smith awarded her an honorary doctorate in law ( L.L.D.) in 1938.

Career

Carter soon established a career in both law and international politics. In 1935 Carter became the first black woman assistant district attorney in the state of New York. As assistant DA, she determined that

Mafia "Mafia", as an informal or general term, is often used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the Sicilian Mafia, original Mafia in Sicily, to the Italian-American Mafia, or to other Organized crime in Italy, organiz ...

boss

Lucky Luciano Charles "Lucky" Luciano ( ; ; born Salvatore Lucania ; November 24, 1897 – January 26, 1962) was an Italian gangster who operated mainly in the United States. He started his criminal career in the Five Points Gang and was instrumental in the ...

must be involved in prostitution. Carter then put together a massive prostitution racketeering case that eventually implicated Luciano. She convinced Thomas Dewey, recently appointed special prosecutor for Manhattan by the governor, to personally prosecute the case. Luciano was convicted and served ten years, and then was deported. The conviction was described by Luciano biographer Tim Newark as, "a land-mark in legal history as it was the first against a major organized crime figure for anything other than tax evasion". The case generated national fame for Dewey, which he rode to election as the governor of New York. He also made two unsuccessful runs for the White House, one against President

Harry S. Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. As the 34th vice president in 1945, he assumed the presidency upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt that year. Subsequen ...

. Dewey benefited from Carter's prosecutorial skills and had genuine respect for her. She frequently accompanied him to political events in Harlem and elsewhere, and reporters noted that she offered him advice. ("Judge Paige", 6) Active in the

in the 1920s, Carter later became active in the

, serving on committees that advocated improving the status of women ("Eunice Carter", 14). In addition to her work for the UN, she also served on the executive committee of the International Council of Women, an organization with representatives from 37 countries. ("U.S. Women's Unit", 9) Additionally, she served on the board of the Y.W.C.A. (Gray, 2007, n.p.)

Marriage and family

Hunton married Lisle Carter Sr., who was one of the first African-American dentists in New York. They lived for many years in

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater ...

, Manhattan. The couple's only child, Lisle Carter Jr., graduated from college and law school. He practiced law and later worked in the John F. Kennedy and

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), also known as LBJ, was the 36th president of the United States, serving from 1963 to 1969. He became president after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, under whom he had served a ...

presidential administrations as a political appointee. Lisle Carter Jr. had five children, one of whom is an author and

Yale Law Yale Law School (YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824. The 2020–21 acceptance rate was 4%, the lowest of any law school in the United States. Its yield ...

professor Stephen L. Carter, who published a biography in 2018 about Eunice Carter entitled ''Invisible: The Forgotten Story of the Black Woman Lawyer Who Took Down America’s Most Powerful Mobster''. In this biography of his paternal grandmother, Professor Carter includes "the possibility of a long-running affair with jazz musician Fletcher Henderson." The biography also notes the imprisonment of Eunice's brother W. Alphaeus Hunton Jr. for contempt of court, after refusing to answer questions about his knowledge of fugitive leaders of the Communist Party (for whose bail fund he had served as a signatory), and the consequent estrangement between the two siblings.

References

Bibliography

* *Dawn Bradley Berry, ''The 50 Most Influential Women in American Law''. Los Angeles: Contemporary Books (1996) *Dorothy K. Hunton, ''Alphaeus Hunton: The Unsung Valiant''. Self-published, New York, 1986 (life of W. A. Hunton Jr.) *"Eunice Carter To Be Abroad Seven Weeks". '' The Chicago Defender''. March 14, 1956, p. 14 * Black History Month 2007 *Jean Blackwell Hutson, "Carter, Eunice Hunton", in Barbara Sicherman & Carol Hurd Green (eds.), ''Notable American Women: The Modern Period: A Biographical Dictionary''. Cambridge: Belknap Press of Harvard Univ. Press (1980), pp. 141–142 *Jessie Carney Smith (Editor), ''Notable Black American Women''. Detroit : Gale Research (1992) *"Judge Paige, Miss Carter on Up Grade". ''The Chicago Defender''. November 13, 1937, p. 6 *Marilyn S. Greenwald & Yun Li, ''Eunice Hunton Carter: A Lifelong Fight for Social Justice'', Fordham Univ. Press (Empire State Editions), New York. 2021. *Stephen L. Carter, ''Invisible: The Forgotten Story of the Black Woman Lawyer Who Took Down America's Most Powerful Mobster''. Henry Holt & Co., New York. 2018. *"Two New York Women Pass Bar Examinations". ''The Chicago Defender''. May 20, 1933, p. 6 *"U.S. Women's Unit at Vienna Parley". ''The New York Times''. May 7, 1959, p. 9 {{DEFAULTSORT:Carter, Eunice 1899 births 1970 deaths Smith College alumni Fordham University alumni New York (state) lawyers People from Atlanta 20th-century American women lawyers 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century African-American women New York (state) Republicans Anti-crime activists 20th-century African-American lawyers