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Lawson E. Thomas was an American lawyer and civil rights activist who served as the first African American judge appointed in the South since Reconstruction. As a lawyer, he maintained his own legal practice which was unusual for a black attorney in Florida at the time. He was a key figure in wade-ins that led to the establishment of Virginia Key as the first black beach in Miami Dade County.


 * 1) Early Life and Education

Lawson Edward Thomas was born in Ocala, Florida on January 28, 1898. Lawson Thomas was the eldest of seven sons, and both of his parents' families had moved from South Carolina, and his mother's family had established Butlerville, a farming community near Ocala. His father, Robert Jr. and grandfather, Robert Sr. were both mechanics, and Robert Jr. built phosphate mines across northern Florida. Lawson Thomas graduated from what is now Florida A&M University in 1919 after having attended public school in Ocala. Lawson Thomas's education up to this point was segregated due to the Florida's 1885 Constitution banning integrated schools. In 1923, Thomas earned a law degree from the University of Michigan Law School, and in 1926 he was admitted to the Michigan Bar. As an attorney, Lawson Thomas only practiced law in Michigan for two years, until 1928, before moving back to Florida.

“Attorney Thomas Named Judge.” Miami Times. April 22, 1950. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83004231/1950-04-22/ed-1/seq-1/(accessed September 26, 2022).

This is an in depth news article written upon Lawson Thomas being appointed judge, but it mostly tells his biography up to that point.

Bradley, Kelly. “Lawson E. Thomas, the First Black Judge in the South since Reconstruction, Part 3.” South Florida Media Network, Florida International University, 9 Mar. 2021, https://sfmn.fiu.edu/lawson-e-thomas-the-first-black-judge-in-the-south-since-reconstruction-part-3/.
 * 1) Legal Practice and Civil Rights protests

Bush, Gregory W. White Sand Black Beach: Civil Rights, Public Space, and Miami’s Virginia Key. University Press of Florida, 2016. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctvx074pw. Accessed 14 Sep. 2022.

This is a book about the establishment of Virginia Key as the first black beach in Miami, with several chapters dedicated to Lawson E. Thomas and the wade-ins that he led and participated in.

Rose, Chanelle. “The ‘Jewel’ of the South?: Miami, Florida and the NAACP’s Struggle for Civil Rights in America’s Vacation Paradise.” The Florida Historical Quarterly, vol. 86, no. 1, 2007, pp. 39–69. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/30150099. Accessed 14 Sep. 2022.

The book describes the early Civil Rights movement in Miami, and includes sections describing Lawson Thomas's involvement in it.


 * 1) Judgeship

Longa, Ernesto A. “Lawson Edward Thomas and Miami's Negro Municipal Court,” 18 St. Thomas Law Review 125 (2005).Available at: https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/law_facultyscholarship/207

The article examines how unique the circumstances of Thomas's court were within American history, and how it was the only court in America set up on racial lines.

Colburn, David R., and Susan A. MacManus. Florida’s Other Courts: Unconventional Justice in the Sunshine State. Edited by Robert M. Jarvis. University Press of Florida, 2018. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvx1hsw0.

The book is a collection of articles describing unconventional courts in Florida, including Lawson Thoms's court


 * 1) Later Life

Neilsen, Kirk. “A Historic Dip.” Miami New Times. April 8, 1999. https://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/a-historic-dip-6359114?showFullText=true (accessed September 26, 2022).

Article published ten years after his death that describes his life in retrospect, and contains interviews with Thomas's family members.


 * 1) Honors

Charles, Johania. “Mural Honoring Judge Lawson Thomas Unveiled.” The Miami Times, 13 July 2022, https://www.miamitimesonline.com/lifestyles/arts_culture/mural-honoring-judge-lawson-thomas-unveiled/article_a009e054-0276-11ed-820a-bb649af535a3.html.

Shows that a mural in Miami was unveiled honoring Thomas.

Ceballos, Joshua. "Overtown Office of Miami's First Black Judge Declared a Historic Site." Miami New Times [Miami], 26 May 2022. https://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/the-overtown-office-of-lawson-thomas-miamis-first-black-judge-designated-a-historic-site-14560263

Describes how Lawson E Thomas is remembered in Miami, as well as how his office was declared a historic site.

“Miami-Dade Lawson E. Thomas Courthouse Center.” Courthouses of Florida, 23 May 2016, https://courthousesofflorida.com/courthouse/miami-dade-lawson-e-thomas-courthouse-center/.

Describes how the Lawson E. Thomas Courthouse Center in Miami is named after Lawson Thomas

I will add links to the new page in the previously described “List of first male minority lawyers and judges in the United States” and “Virginia Key” articles as well as in the article for Malcolm Bowling Allen, the first black judge prior to the end of Reconstruction. My article will link to Malcolm Bowling Allen’s, the article on the NAACP, and articles about locations that were important in Lawson Thomas’s life, such as Virginia Key, where he led wade-ins, and Overtown, where his legal practice was.