Law / Politics / Civil rights & activism
George W. Crockett Jr.
1909–1997 · civil rights lawyer, judge, congressman
Radical civil rights lawyer who co-founded one of the first integrated law firms in Detroit, became a storied Recorder's Court judge after the 1969 New Bethel incident and then served in Congress (1980–1991).
- Born
Jacksonville, Florida- Died
Washington, D.C.
aged 88- Birth name
- George William Crockett Jr.
- Also known as
- George Crockett
- Detroit years
- 1943–1990
- Field
- Law, Politics, Civil rights & activism
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
George Crockett, a Florida pastor's son, graduated from Morehouse and the University of Michigan law school and worked as a Labor Department attorney before coming to Detroit in the 1940s to run the UAW's fair employment practices work. In 1946 he co-founded Goodman, Crockett, Eden and Robb, believed to be the first racially integrated law firm in the country. Defending Communist leaders in the 1949 Smith Act trial, he was jailed for four months for contempt, and in 1952 he represented Coleman Young before the House Un-American Activities Committee in Detroit. Elected to the Recorder's Court in 1966, he became nationally known in March 1969 when, after police stormed New Bethel Baptist Church during a Republic of New Afrika meeting and arrested some 150 people, he set up court at the police station overnight and released most of them. Chief judge from 1974, he won Charles Diggs's congressional seat in 1980 and served until 1991.
Highlights
- Co-founded Goodman, Crockett, Eden and Robb, an early integrated law firm (1946)
- Judge of Detroit's Recorder's Court from 1966; chief judge from 1974
- Released most of those arrested in the 1969 New Bethel Church raid
- U.S. representative from Detroit, 1980–1991
- National vice president of the National Lawyers Guild
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 1
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Related place · 1969
New Bethel Baptist Church
Rev. C. L. Franklin's church, stormed by police on March 29, 1969; Crockett's overnight court ruling on the arrests made him a national figure.