James Benton Parsons

James Benton Parsons (August 13, 1911 – June 19, 1993) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. He was the first African American to serve as a judge in a U.S. district court.

Early life, education and career

Born on August 13, 1911, in Kansas City, Missouri, his family moved to St. Louis, Missouri, where his father was an evangelist and missionary with the Disciples of Christ Church. The family subsequently lived in Lexington, Kentucky, Dayton, Ohio and Bloomington, Indiana, before settling in Decatur, Illinois . Parsons wanted to be an attorney by the time he was in junior high school. By 1939, Parsons had become director of instrumental music for Greensboro's Negro public schools, as the state had a segregated public school system. It was one of more than 100 bands of African Americans organized by the Navy during the war; the other bands all trained at Camp Robert Smalls. B-1 trained at Norfolk and was stationed at Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where it was attached to the Navy's pre-flight school on the University of North Carolina campus.

In May 1944 the band was transferred to the United States Naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, where it was stationed at Manana Barracks.This held the largest posting of African-American servicemen in the world. While there, Parsons was selected for a panel of judges that was convened by the Navy to investigate the 1944 riot in Guam among Marines. This experience furthered his interest in studying law. Throughout his service, Parsons directed B-1, but he mustered out of the Navy in 1945 as a Musician 1st class, never having made the officer's grade. He and his men believed that he had earned that.

Later education and career

After the war, Parsons used the GI Bill to earn his Master of Arts degree from the University of Chicago in 1946, followed by a J.D. degree from the University of Chicago Law School in 1949. Parsons entered private practice in Chicago, Illinois from 1949 to 1951, also serving as an assistant corporation counsel during that time. He was appointed as an Assistant United States Attorney of the Northern District of Illinois, serving from 1951 to 1960. He was a judge of the Superior Court of Cook County, Illinois from 1960 to 1961.

Federal judicial service

Parsons was nominated by President John F. Kennedy on August 10, 1961, to a seat on the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois vacated by Judge Philip Leo Sullivan. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on August 30, 1961, and received his commission the same day, becoming the first African American to serve as a U.S. district judge in a U.S. district court. He served as Chief Judge from 1975 to 1981 and served as a member of the Judicial Conference of the United States from 1975 to 1978. He assumed senior status on August 30, 1981. His service terminated on June 19, 1993, due to his death in Chicago. He was interred at Greenwood Cemetery in Decatur.