As an eighth grade student at Booker T. Washington High School, Judge Romae T. Powell decided she would one day become a lawyer after writing a paper about the lack of representation and unfair treatment of Black people in the courts. Powell’s early ambitions encouraged her to maintain academic excellence and, in 1943, she graduated with honors from Booker T. Washington High School.
Upon graduating from Spelman College in 1947, Powell went on to receive her law degree from Howard University where she attended Supreme Court hearings with her classmates.
Driven by her passion to provide proper and affordable representation for Black people, Judge Powell opened a private law firm on Auburn Avenue in Atlanta which specialized in representing Black people and families from lower socio-economic backgrounds. She also volunteered her services to the NAACP on desegregation and other cases in Georgia.
After operating in private practice for over a decade, Powell “accepted the appointment as the full-time referee for the Fulton County Juvenile Court, the first black referee in the court’s long history.” With the approval of Judge John S. Langford, Jr., Powell was later promoted to serve as a full court judge of Fulton County. This appointment made her both the first appointed African-American judge and the first appointed African-American female judge in the state of Georgia.
Outside of the courtroom, Judge Powell advocated for juveniles by helping to establish programs targeted at teaching juveniles responsibility; advocating to raise the legal age of adulthood to 18 in the state of Georgia, and; advocating for better food options for children in Georgia’s detention centers.
Judge Powell was also an active member in:
-The State Crime Committee
-National Council of Juvenile Court Justice’s Committee on Serious and Repeat Offenders
-Georgia Council of Juvenile Court Judges (President)
-Georgia Alliance for Children
-Gate City Bar Association (GCBA)
Judge Powell passed in 1990 and left behind her husband of 36 years, Dr. C. Clayton Powell, and their two children.
Source: The Foot Soldier Project for Civil Rights at the University of Georgia
#forBTWbyBTW
Upon graduating from Spelman College in 1947, Powell went on to receive her law degree from Howard University where she attended Supreme Court hearings with her classmates.
Driven by her passion to provide proper and affordable representation for Black people, Judge Powell opened a private law firm on Auburn Avenue in Atlanta which specialized in representing Black people and families from lower socio-economic backgrounds. She also volunteered her services to the NAACP on desegregation and other cases in Georgia.
After operating in private practice for over a decade, Powell “accepted the appointment as the full-time referee for the Fulton County Juvenile Court, the first black referee in the court’s long history.” With the approval of Judge John S. Langford, Jr., Powell was later promoted to serve as a full court judge of Fulton County. This appointment made her both the first appointed African-American judge and the first appointed African-American female judge in the state of Georgia.
Outside of the courtroom, Judge Powell advocated for juveniles by helping to establish programs targeted at teaching juveniles responsibility; advocating to raise the legal age of adulthood to 18 in the state of Georgia, and; advocating for better food options for children in Georgia’s detention centers.
Judge Powell was also an active member in:
-The State Crime Committee
-National Council of Juvenile Court Justice’s Committee on Serious and Repeat Offenders
-Georgia Council of Juvenile Court Judges (President)
-Georgia Alliance for Children
-Gate City Bar Association (GCBA)
Judge Powell passed in 1990 and left behind her husband of 36 years, Dr. C. Clayton Powell, and their two children.
Source: The Foot Soldier Project for Civil Rights at the University of Georgia
#forBTWbyBTW