This is a list of the first minority male lawyer(s) and judge(s) in Iowa. It includes the year in which the men were admitted to practice law (in parentheses). Also included are other distinctions, such as the first minority men in their state to graduate from law school or become a political figure.

Firsts in Iowa's history

Law degree

First African American male law graduate: Alexander Clark in 1879Clark was the first African American male to graduate from the University of Iowa College of Law (1879). His father Alexander Clark, Sr. would become the second African American law graduate in the university's history. They would go on to practice together as lawyers.

Lawyers

First African American male: A.H. Watkins (1874) First African American male to practice before the Iowa Supreme Court: Samuel K. Adams (1875) First Native American male: Thomas "Ted" St. Germaine (1904) First African American male to argue a case before the Supreme Court of Iowa: Samuel (S.) Joe Brown in 1906

State judges

First African American male: George H. Woodson (1896) c. 1903 (upon his appointment as a Judge of Iowa's Sixth Judicial District) First African American male (municipal court): Luther T. Glanton, Jr. in 1958 First Jewish American male (district court): Ansel Chapman in 1968 First African American male (Fifth Judicial District): Luther T. Glanton, Jr. in 1976 First male of part Vietnamese descent (Iowa Supreme Court): Christopher McDonald in 2019 First African American male (Third Judicial District): Robert Tiefenthaler in 2022

United States Attorney

First African American male: Don Carlos Nickerson in 1993

Iowa Judges Association

First African American male (President): Odell McGhee II

Iowa State Bar Association

First African American male (President): Henry Hamilton III in 2022

Firsts in local history Luther T. Glanton, Jr.: First African American male to serve as the Assistant Polk County Attorney (1951) Dennis J. Stovall: First African American male to serve as a magistrate judge in Polk County, Iowa (1986)

See also

List of first minority male lawyers and judges in the United States

Other topics of interest

List of first women lawyers and judges in the United States List of first women lawyers and judges in Iowa

References