Robert Morris

Released
Date of birth:08. 06. 1823
Date of death:12. 12. 1882
Age:59† Deceased
Gender:Male
Race:Black
Era:1800s
State:Massachusetts
Support
Abolitionism Civil Rights Boston Vigilance Committee Underground Railroad
Robert Morris

Biography

One of the first Black lawyers in the United States, admitted to the Massachusetts bar in 1847. Co-leader with Lewis Hayden of the February 1851 rescue of Shadrach Minkins from the Boston Court House. Federal authorities prosecuted Morris for aiding the rescue; the jury acquitted. Morris also served as co-counsel (with Charles Sumner) in Roberts v. City of Boston (1849), the first court challenge to segregated public schools in the United States.

Case

Charges: Aiding and abetting the rescue of a fugitive from labor under the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850.
Arrested: Feb 21, 1851
Sentence: Acquitted. Verdict as recorded: No — federal jury refused to convict.
Convicted: No

Related Cases

Lewis Hayden Lewis Hayden Leonard Grimes Leonard Grimes Martin Stowell Martin Stowell Theodore Parker Theodore Parker