Judge Elreta Melton Alexander became one of the most influential people in a state where Black women seldom held courtroom firsts. She didn’t wait for the legal community to accommodate her; instead, she entered it and changed the courtroom by refusing to be shut out.
Alexander’s Early Life and Education
Alexander was born in Smithfield, North Carolina, in 1919, and grew up in the midst of Jim Crow. She was nevertheless committed to continuing her education, earning a bachelor’s degree from North Carolina A&T before setting much higher goals than most people believed were possible.
She was the first Black woman admitted to Columbia Law School in 1943, and she finished as the school’s first Black woman graduate in 1945.
Her decision to practice in Jim Crow North Carolina, where Black women attorneys were virtually barred from the legal profession, was an act of defiance in and of itself.
Instead of seeking safer or more welcoming opportunities elsewhere, she came back to challenge a system that was hostile to her race and gender, and in 1947 she became the first Black woman to practice law in North Carolina.
Defending Clients Others Would Not
One of her most significant cases came in 1964, when she defended four Black men accused of raping a white woman in State v. Yoes. Even though she lost on appeal, the case revealed the extremely biased jury selection procedures of the time, and her arguments served as a catalyst for changes to North Carolina’s jury system.
Alexander built herself up as a criminal defense lawyer who believed justice was not selective. Law had to apply universally, even to those who stood against everything she represented.
Although Alexander “represented Blacks in civil rights cases,” according to scholar Virginia Summey, some of her clients were also KKK members. Her willingness to do so was motivated by her belief that justice could not endure if it was extended only to those who deserved it.
Leading the Way with More Historic Firsts
Alexander was elected as the first Black woman to serve as a district court judge in North Carolina in 1968, another historic milestone. She was also among the first women in the US to be elected by popular vote.
For more than a decade, Alexander served as a judge in Guilford County, bringing both firm authority and compassion to the bench. She believed that the court system should offer second chances, especially to young people. During her time as a district court judge, she supported rehabilitation programs aimed at keeping first-time youth offenders out of long-term trouble and guiding them toward better paths.
And in 1974, she ran for Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court, but she was defeated in the Republican primary by a white candidate who wasn’t even a lawyer. A constitutional amendment requiring judicial candidates to be licensed attorneys was ultimately influenced by public outrage over that election.
It would seem that even her setbacks forced the system to evolve.
A Legacy Still on the Records
Elreta Melton Alexander passed away in 1998, but her impact on North Carolina’s legal system lives on. Her life was full of firsts, showing what becomes possible when someone refuses to give up on justice in a world that is set up to deny individuals both voice and power.