Saturday, August 31, 2013

THE INDOMITABLE GEORGE WASHINGTON FIELDS: FROM SLAVE TO ATTORNEY

Today, I completed the book, THE INDOMITABLE GEORGE WASHINGTON FIELDS: FROM SLAVE TO ATTORNEY, by Kevin M. Clermont (2013). Clermont is a Cornell U. Law School professor, who happened upon this underlying rare and forgotten manuscript, while perusing that Ithaca, New York campus' card catalog. George Washington (Cock Robin) Fields, a former Virginia slave, was in the first graduating class of that law school in 1890, who went on to pursue a successful practice in Hampton, Virginia, his home. His presence in that class and his distinction as the first black graduate was lost to history, until uncovered by Professor Clermont. The book is fascinating in too many ways to iterate in this blurb. I would urge anyone interested in Civil War and post-Civil War history; interested in law and legal history; interested in African American history; interested in trial by jury to read this unforgettable book. You will be glad that you did!