Wilford Horace Smith

Wilford H. Smith was an African-American lawyer who was active in Mississippi, Texas, New York and Alabama between 1883 and 1926. In 1900 Smith became the first black attorney to win a case before the United States Supreme Court with Carter v. Texas , a case which reinforced the principle that the constitutional rights of black defendants were violated when they were unable to defend themselves against racial discrimination in jury selection. He also won a second jury discrimination case before the Supreme Court, Dan Rogers v. State of Alabama , and unsuccessfully argued two voting rights cases, Giles v. Harris and Giles v. Teasley , in a bid for recognition that state laws facilitating racially discriminatory practices in voter registration were unconstitutional violations of black men's civil rights. During his long and wide-ranging legal career Smith's clients included Booker T. Washington in the 1900s and 1910s, and Marcus Garvey and the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) in the early 1920s.