Graham Turner Perry (April 22, 1894 – September 9, 1960) was an African-American attorney who served as assistant attorney general for the State of Illinois. He is also the father of stage director Shauneille Perry and uncle of playwright

Lorraine Hansberry Lorraine Vivian Hansberry (May 19, 1930 – January 12, 1965) was an American playwright and writer. She was the first African-American female author to have a play performed on Broadway theatre, Broadway. Her best-known work, the play ''A Raisin ...

Biography

According to the 1900 U.S. Census, Perry was born in April 1894 (some sources indicate either April 22, 1897, January 22, 1898 or April 22, 1900) in Columbia, Tennessee, the youngest child of the Rev. George W. Perry, an escaped former slave, and Charlotte "Lottie" Organ. He received his elementary and secondary school education in Columbia. After graduating from College Hill School, he later attended

Morehouse College Morehouse College is a Private college, private, Historically black colleges and universities, historically black, Men's colleges in the United States, men's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Atlanta, Georgia, ...

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

. At Morehouse, Perry was a well-rounded student who in addition to the being a member of the debate team, played varsity baseball, sang in the Glee Club, served as assistant advertising manager of the school yearbook, and was a Shakespearean actor who appeared in a production of ''

Othello ''The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice'', often shortened to ''Othello'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare around 1603. Set in Venice and Cyprus, the play depicts the Moorish military commander Othello as he is manipulat ...

.'' He was also a member of

Omega Psi Phi Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. () is a List of African-American fraternities, historically African-American Fraternities and sororities, fraternity. It was founded on November 17, 1911 at Howard University. Omega Psi Phi is a founding member of ...

fraternity. In 1923, he received the degree of ''

juris doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

'' from the

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 ...

. He was very active in civil rights, having served as vice president of the Chicago branch of 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 ...

. He also served on the board of the Chicago branch of the Urban League. In 1941, he was elected to the post of assistant attorney general for the State of Illinois. After Nathan K. McGill, he was one of the first African Americans to hold that position in the state. No African American would serve as a state's attorney general until

Edward Brooke Edward William Brooke III (October 26, 1919 – January 3, 2015) was an American lawyer and Republican Party politician who represented Massachusetts in the United States Senate from 1967 to 1979. He was the first African American elected to t ...

was elected Attorney General of Massachusetts in 1962. Perry served as an assistant attorney general from 1942 to 1950, and specialized in military and labor-related issues. This included cases involving the reinstatement of veterans to positions they held prior to military service. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Perry helped enforce anti-discrimination requirements with firms holding war contracts. In January 1948, he was chosen by the Republican party as a candidate for judge in Chicago's Municipal court. Despite a strong showing by U.S. presidential candidate

Thomas E. Dewey Thomas Edmund Dewey (March 24, 1902 – March 16, 1971) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 47th Governor of New York from 1943 to 1954. He was the Republican Party's nominee for president of the United States in 1944 and ...

at the top of the ticket, the Chicago Democrats had a clean sweep of the local election in November of that year. Perry received a total of 638,689 votes and tied for twenty-first place out of 33 candidates for twelve positions. In 1953, Perry was appointed assistant United States attorney to handle cases involving military conscientious objectors. He was working in a similar capacity for the northern district of Illinois at the time of his death. He died on September 9, 1960, at his home in Chicago. and is buried at the

Burr Oak Cemetery Burr Oak Cemetery is a cemetery located in Alsip, Illinois, United States, a suburb southwest of Chicago, Illinois. Established in 1927, Burr Oak was one of the few early Chicago cemeteries focused on the needs of the African-American community, ...

near Chicago.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perry, Graham T. 1894 births 1960 deaths Illinois Republicans NAACP activists Lawyers from Chicago People from Columbia, Tennessee Morehouse College alumni Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law alumni African-American activists 20th-century American lawyers Burials at Burr Oak Cemetery 20th-century African-American lawyers