Theodore McMillian (January 28, 1919 – January 18, 2006) was 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

Missouri Court of Appeals The Missouri Court of Appeals is the intermediate appellate court for the U.S. state, state of Missouri. The court handles most of the appeals from the Missouri Circuit Courts. The court is divided into three geographic districts: Eastern (bas ...

, and the first African American to serve as a

United States circuit judge In the United States, a federal judge is a judge who serves on a court established under Article Three of the U.S. Constitution. Often called "Article III judges", federal judges include the chief justice and associate justices of the U.S. Su ...

of the

United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit (in case citations, 8th Cir.) is a United States federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the following United States district courts: * Eastern District of Arkansas * Western ...

Education and career

Born in

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

, McMillian attended

Vashon High School Vashon High School is a high school of the St. Louis Public Schools in St. Louis, Missouri. When it opened in 1927, it was the second high school for black students in St. Louis. History Designed by Rockwell M. Milligan, the school opened on Se ...

. He received a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

degree from Lincoln University in 1941. He received a

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

from

Saint Louis University School of Law The Saint Louis University School of Law (also known as SLU Law) is the law school affiliated with Saint Louis University, a private Jesuit research university in Saint Louis, Missouri. The school has been American Bar Association approved sin ...

in 1949. He was in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

from 1942 to 1946. He was in private practice of law in St. Louis from 1949 to 1953. He was an assistant circuit attorney of City of St. Louis from 1953 to 1956. He was a judge of the Circuit Court in St. Louis from 1956 to 1972. He was appointed by Governor Warren E. Hearnes as a judge of the Eastern Division of the

from 1972 to 1978, being retained in 1974. He was an associate professor at the University of Missouri from 1970 to 1972. He was a faculty member of the National College of Juvenile Justice at the

University of Nevada, Reno The University of Nevada, Reno (Nevada, the University of Nevada, or UNR) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Reno, Nevada, United States. It is the state's flagship public university and prim ...

from 1972 to 1977. He was an associate professor of the

Webster College Webster University is a private university with its main campus in Webster Groves, Missouri, United States. It has multiple branch locations across the United States and countries across Europe, Asia, and Africa. The university has an alumni net ...

Graduate Program in 1977.

Other service

McMillian served as board chairman of the Human Development Corporation, local CAP agency, Minority Economic Development Agency and the Herbert Hoover’s Boys Club of St. Louis. He served as a board member of the American Judicature Society, Blue Cross Hospital Association and Urban League. He was a member of the St. Louis University’s President’s Council and board of trustees of the St. Louis Junior College District.

Federal judicial service

McMillian was nominated by President

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...

on August 3, 1978, to a seat on the

vacated by Judge

William H. Webster William Hedgcock Webster (born March 6, 1924) is an American retired attorney and jurist who most recently served as chair of the Homeland Security Advisory Council from 2005 until 2020. He was a United States district judge of the United Stat ...

. He was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

on September 22, 1978, and received his commission on September 23, 1978. He assumed senior status on July 1, 2003. His service was terminated on January 18, 2006, due to his death in St. Louis.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:McMillian, Theodore 1919 births 2006 deaths Saint Louis University School of Law alumni Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit United States court of appeals judges appointed by Jimmy Carter Missouri Court of Appeals judges African-American judges Lincoln University (Missouri) alumni University of Missouri–St. Louis people University of Nevada, Reno faculty Saint Louis University faculty Vashon High School alumni

Education and career

Other service

Federal judicial service

See also

References

External links