Hubert B. Pair (April 14, 1904June 14, 1988) was a judge of the

District of Columbia Court of Appeals The District of Columbia Court of Appeals is the highest court of the District of Columbia, the capital city of the United States. The court was established in 1942 as the Municipal Court of Appeals, and it has been the court of last resort ...

, the highest court for 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 ...

. Born in

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most populous city in the state (after Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte) ...

, Pair moved to

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 ...

as a child, where his father Rev. James Pair served as pastor of First Baptist Church in Brentwood. Pair graduated from

Howard University Howard University is a private, historically black, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" and accredited by the Mid ...

and earned his law degree from Terrell Law School, both

black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

institutions in segregated Washington. While attending school at night, he worked as a messenger and skilled laborer at the

Bureau of Customs The Bureau of Customs (BoC or BOC; ) is a Philippine government agency that is responsible for the collecting of customs, customs duties, excise duties, and other indirect taxes in the Philippines. It is part of the Department of Finance (Philip ...

. He taught night classes at Terrell until the school closed in 1951. In 1942, Pair was hired by the corporation counsel's office, becoming the first black lawyer ever to work in the office. He spent 28 years at the corporation counsel's office, served as chief of the appellate staff and acting corporation counsel, and was well-regarded by his colleagues such as future federal judge

Oliver Gasch Oliver Gasch (May 4, 1906 – July 8, 1999) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. Education and career Born in Washington, D.C., Gasch received an Artium Baccalaureus degree from P ...

. Corporation Counsel Charles Duncan described him as "a very proper and old school lawyer." During his time at the corporation counsel's office, Pair argued a case on behalf of the District before the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

, though the Court did not decide the case and instead dismissed the writ as improvidently granted. In 1970, at age 66, Pair was nominated for a new seat on the D.C. Court of Appeals by

President Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the 36th vice president under P ...

. His nomination was part of a group that included six black judicial nominees, which according to

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was the largest number of

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. ...

s ever nominated to the bench at one time. The other nominees included his future colleague Theodore R. Newman, Jr., who was nominated to the

Superior Court of the District of Columbia The Superior Court of the District of Columbia, commonly referred to as DC Superior Court, is the trial court for the District of Columbia, in the United States. It hears cases involving Criminal justice, criminal, Civil law (common law), civi ...

. Pair was confirmed by the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

on May 26, 1971, and served until 1974, when he reached the mandatory retirement age of 70 and assumed senior status. Pair was a member of the

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People 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 ...

, the Pigskin Club, and the Metropolitan Baptist Church of Washington, where he served as trustee and taught a men's Bible class.

References

Sources

Hearing Before the Committee on the District of Columbia
U.S. Senate, 91st Congress, Second Session, on Judicial Nominations for District of Columbia Courts, October 12, 1970. {{DEFAULTSORT:Pair, Hubert B. 1904 births 1988 deaths African-American judges Judges of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals Howard University alumni 20th-century American judges 20th-century American lawyers Lawyers from Raleigh, North Carolina Lawyers from Washington, D.C. 20th-century African-American lawyers