OURStory: George Crockett, Jr. (1909-1997)

On this date in 1909, George Crockett was born. He was an African American lawyer, State Judge, and a congressman from Michigan.

From Jacksonville, Duval County, Fla., George William Crockett Jr., attended the public schools, graduated with a B. A. from Morehouse College, Atlanta, Ga. in 1931 and received his J.D., from the University of Michigan Law School in 1934. Admitted to the Florida bar in 1934 he began practicing in Jacksonville as a senior attorney. In 1939, Crockett worked with United States Department of Labor as a hearing officer, and with the Federal Fair Employment Practices Commission in 1943.

He was senior member of a law firm in Detroit from 1946 to 1966, after which he was elected judge of Recorder’s Court in Detroit serving from 1967 to 1979. While acting corporation counsel for the city of Detroit, Crockett was elected as a Democrat to the Ninety-sixth Congress, by special election in 1980, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Charles C. Diggs, Jr., and at the same time he was elected to the Ninety-seventh Congress.

While in the House of Representative, he served on the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee on the Judiciary, and the select Committee on Aging. He used his seat on Foreign affairs to voice his opposition to the South African government’s policy of apartheid. Crockett was reelected to the four succeeding Congresses and served until January 3, 1991 and was not a candidate for re-nomination in 1990 to the One Hundred Second Congress. George Crockett died September 7, 1997.

Rest In Peace Granddaddy!

NAACP Seems More Relevant Today

I questioned the relevancy of the NAACP here and here over the past year. Today, I feel much better about them. It turns out the the NAACP Detroit Branch created a public education program called the George W. Crockett Jr. Community Law School. Classes are taught by attorneys, judges, civil rights advocates, and community leaders.


George W. Crockett, Jr.

of you knew him as a legendary civil rights leader, a brilliant attorney, and outstanding constitutional scholar. He defended labor unionists and civil rights activists when such causes were unpopular. He represented the late Coleman A. Young, when Young was called before the House Committee on Un-American Activities.

Many of you knew him as one of the first African American judges to sit on Recorder's Court. When Detroit Police Officers randomly arrested 142 people after the infamous New Bethel Church incident, Crockett ruled they could not be held indefinitely without probable cause, and released most of them.

Many of you knew him as a congressman elected to represent the old 13th Congressional District, where he became one of the House's foremost experts on foreign affairs and the U.S. Constitution. In Congress, he introduced the Mandela Freedom Act, which eventually passed. He also sued President Ronald Reagan under the War Power Act for unauthorized military actions in El Salvador.

I knew him as 'Granddaddy'.

All of a sudden the NAACP seems more relevant to me.