July 16, 1899 - Eunice Roberta Hunton Carter
July 16, 1899 - Eunice Roberta Hunton Carter
was a Black American lawyer and the first Black woman to be a district attorney in the state of New York was born in Atlanta, GA, on this date in 1899. She broke down racial and gender barriers by becoming one of New York's first Black American female lawyers, and then becoming one of the first district attorneys of color in the United States.
was a Black American lawyer and the first Black woman to be a district attorney in the state of New York was born in Atlanta, GA, on this date in 1899. She broke down racial and gender barriers by becoming one of New York's first Black American female lawyers, and then becoming one of the first district attorneys of color in the United States.
She attended Smith College in North Hampton, Massachusetts, and graduated cum laude with both a Bachelors and Masters degrees, in 1921. Ten years later she received her law degree from Fordham Law School and was admitted to the New York Bar in 1934.
After a short time in private practice, she began working in the district attorney’s office handling low-level criminal prosecutions. While working with several prostitution cases, she suspected a link with the underworld. She noticed the defendants using the same stories, being represented by the same law firms, and if fined the same bondsmen would appear.
Based largely on Carter’s research, special prosecutor Thomas E. Dewey ordered a major raid on about eight whorehouses, providing her with enough details to convict the top Mafia leader in New York. Carter remained with Dewey’s Special Sessions Bureau where she supervised more than 14,000 criminal cases each year. She left the district attorney's office in 1945 and returned to private practice.
Her other professional achievements included being a consultant to the United Nations and International Council of Women; vice president of the National Council of Women U.S. YWCA; a member of the U.S. National Council of Negro Women; and a member of the American Association of University Women.
Eunice Carter was the granddaughter of a slave, Stanton Hunton, who purchased his freedom shortly before the Civil War, and the sister of W A Hunton Jr, an author, academic and activist noted for his involvement with the Council on African Affairs. She wed Lisle Carter, Sr., who was one of the first Black American dentists in New York, and lived for many years in Harlem. The couple's only child, Lisle Carter, Jr., went on to practice law, and later worked in the Kennedy and Johnson Administrations.
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