George Edward Chalmers Hayes (July 1, 1894 – December 20, 1968) was a

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, lawyer who defended Annie Lee Moss on March 11, 1954. He was the lead attorney in ''

Bolling v. Sharpe ''Bolling v. Sharpe'', 347 U.S. 497 (1954), is a landmark United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that the Constitution prohibits segregated public schools in the District of Columbia. Originally argued on December 10–11, 1952 ...

'' (1954). In 1955 he 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 on the District of Columbia Public Utilities Commission.

Biography

He was born in

Richmond, Virginia Richmond ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city (United States), independent city since 1871. ...

. His father was James H. Hayes. George graduated from

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

in 1915, and then earned a law degree from

Howard University School of Law Howard University School of Law (Howard Law or HUSL) is the law school of Howard University, a private, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is one of the oldest law schools in the country and the old ...

in 1918. He taught at Howard University School of Law starting in 1924 while he maintained a private practice in the

District of Columbia Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

. On March 11, 1954, he defended Annie Lee Moss. In 1954 with

Spottswood William Robinson III Spottswood William Robinson III (July 26, 1916 – October 11, 1998) was an American civil rights lawyer, jurist, and educator who served as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ...

, he was the lead counsel on ''

'', the companion case to ''

Brown v. Board of Education ''Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka'', 347 U.S. 483 (1954), was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court that ruled that U.S. state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools are unconstitutional, even if the ...

''. Hayes argued that denying

students the liberty to attend non-segregated schools violated

due process Due process of law is application by the state of all legal rules and principles pertaining to a case so all legal rights that are owed to a person are respected. Due process balances the power of law of the land and protects the individual p ...

. Bolling was decided under the Fifth Amendment's ''due process'' clause while Brown was decided under the Fourteenth Amendment's

Equal Protection Clause The Equal Protection Clause is part of the first section of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The clause, which took effect in 1868, provides "nor shall any State... deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal pr ...

. In 1955 he became the first

to serve on the District of Columbia Public Utilities Commission. He died on December 20, 1968.

References

External links

George Edward Chalmer Hayes
image at the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hayes, George Edward Chalmer 1894 births 1968 deaths 20th-century American lawyers Anti-communism in the United States Brown University alumni Howard University School of Law faculty Howard University School of Law alumni Lawyers from Richmond, Virginia Lawyers from Washington, D.C. 20th-century African-American lawyers