Ernest Morial

Ernest Morial was the first African-American graduate of the Louisiana State University Law School. He went on to serve as the President of the New Orleans Chapter of the NAACP. Mr. Morial's political career began in 1959 when he ran for the Louisiana Democratic State Central Committee. In 1967, he won a seat in the Louisiana House of Representatives, becoming the first Black Democrat ever elected to the Louisiana legislature. In 1968, he was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention and two years later was appointed judge of the Orleans Parish Juvenile Court. Mr. Morial served as a founding member of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights under Law, organized by President Kennedy, and served in the House of Delegate of the Louisiana State Bar Association.