Gustavus Woodson Wickliffe

Gustavus Woodson Wickliffe (1869 – 1921) also known as G. Woodson Wickliffe, was an African American lawyer in California. He was the first Black lawyer to pass the bar exam in Southern California, and the first to be admitted to practice in the State of California courts.

Early life and education Gustavus Woodson Wickliffe was born in 1869, in Chattanooga, Tennessee. They had a daughter, Caroline Wickliffe Antoine of Washington D.C. and a son, Gustavus Woodson Wickliffe II of Los Angeles. His son and grandson shared the same name (II and III). His son-in-law was Jacques Carmeleau Antoine, the ambassador from Haiti to the United States, who worked for the UN on issues in Africa.

Career In 1894, he passed the bar exam in Southern California, and was the first Black person to achieve this in Southern California. Two years later in 1896, Washington J. Oglesby was recorded as the first Black person who passed the California State Bar Exam, but he was refused bar admittance until 1902. However R. C. O. Benjamin has also been credited as the first Black lawyer to pass California State Bar Exam in in San Francisco.

Wickliffe lived and worked from 127 N. Main Street in Los Angeles, which is the current Los Angeles City Hall location. His office in 1897 was located at 11 McDonald Building, Los Angeles.

In 1901, Governor Henry T. Gage appointed Wickliffe as a clerk to the California State Board of Harbor Commission.