William Ashbie Hawkins

William Ashbie Hawkins (August 2, 1862 – April 3, 1941) was a lawyer in Baltimore, Maryland, who litigated prominent civil rights cases and was one of Baltimore's first African American lawyers.

Early life and education Hawkins was born in Lynchburg, Virginia, on August 2, 1862, to Reverend Robert and Susan Cobb Hawkins.

On March 14, 1885, he married Ada M. McMechen (b. 1867), also Virginia-born, in Baltimore with the Rev. Benjamin Brown officiating. They had two daughters, Aldina (Haynes; 1885-1940) and Roberta (West; b. 1891). He graduated in 1885 from Centenary Biblical Institute (later to become Morgan College). He attended the University of Maryland School of Law, and was expelled in 1891 when the school resegregated. Similar in nature to the federal Interstate Commerce Commission, "...the primary concern of the Maryland Public Service Commission was rate regulation, but it also had power to hear complaints about service." The two lawyers were central figures in battling the city's landmark segregation law, which was initially established in 1910. McMechen had moved into the 1800 block of McCulloh Street in northwest Baltimore, in a section that was still predominantly white. This perceived incursion was partially responsible for an effort by white Baltimoreans to institute a municipal, racial segregation law that was the first of its kind.

Hawkins' biggest professional mark came in 1917 before the U.S. Supreme Court in Buchanan v. Warley. He served as counsel to the Baltimore chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the Afro-American newspapers.

Political career In 1920, Hawkins was nominated by an independent group of African-American Republicans for United States Senate.

Death Hawkins died from heart disease on April 3, 1941, at Provident Hospital. He had been confined there for seven months, and his terminal sickness lasted for four years. He was buried at Mount Auburn Cemetery.