Carter Walker Wesley
| Carter Walker Wesley | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born |
January 1, 1892 Houston, TX |
| Died | November 10, 1969 |
| Education | Fisk University, Northwestern University |
Personal Life
Carter Walker Wesley was born in 1892 in Houston, Texas. He grew up in the city's first and most successful black neighborhood, Freedmen's Town. Shortly after completing high school, Carter moved to Nashville, Tennessee and graduated magna cum laude in 1917 from Fisk University. [1]
Taking inspiration from W.E.B. Du Bois and other black leaders and writers, Carter joined the NAACP and started a career in law. Soon after graduation, World War I started and interrupted his plans. Wesley enrolled in a black officer's training camp at Fort Des Moines in Iowa, and eventually was commissioned as a first lieutenant.
Carter Wesley had three children and was married to Dorris Wooten. After a career as a lawyer and newspaper puiblisher, Wesley died in Houston on November 10, 1969 and was buried in Paradise Cemetery. North Carolina. [2]
Military Career
During World War I, Carter Walker Wesley volunteered to be in the U.S. Army through a program called the black officers training program. He eventually went on to serve as a lieutenant in France until 1918. [3] Wesley and his unit were sent to Europe where he fought in the Argonne and Verdun regions. In 1918, Wesley was assigned to 372nd infantry regiment in France and trained with French officers. Later he transferred to the 370th and fought in the battle of Oise-Aisne the same year. Wesley commanded the company when the captain became wounded. He was released in 1919 after returning from the ninety third division[4]
Legal Career
Wesley was inspired by W.E.B. Du Bois and various black leaders to join the NAACP and began his career in law. He began attending law school at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois before World War I and became active in civil rights issues as an attorney. At one point, he suggested that the NAACP stop depending on white attorneys to work on cases in Texas.
Carter Walker Wesley worked with members of the NAACP, including Thurgood Marshall, to fight the state of Texas and the Texas Democratic Party in order to end the racially discriminatory white primary. [4] Texas claimed that it had no role in the primary because that was the exclusive domain of the state Democratic Party. Wesley and his law partner James Nabrit Jr. challenged this theory, but the Court upheld the white primary in Grovey v. Townsend, 295 U.S. 45, 55 S. Ct. 622, 792 L. Ed. 1292 (1932). Wesley did not give up the fight, and although it took until 1944, in Smith v. Allwright, 321 U.S. 649, 64 S. Ct. 757, 88 L. Ed. 987 (1944), the Court finally struck down the Texas white primary, finding that the discriminatory voting practice was unconstitutional. [5]
Wesley was also instrument in desegregating the University of Texas Law School, by providing support for Herman Sweatt, who was not admitted because he was black. Wesley even employed Sweatt at one of his newspapers while the suit was going through the courts. [1]
Newspaper and Publishing Career
Active in the civil rights movement as an attorney, Wesley eventually became interested in the power of the press, and switched his focus to the publishing industry. He took a job with the Houston Informer, a newspaper for African Americans, and became the editor of the paper in 1929. He was then promoted to vice president of the newspaper company in 1930 and became manager by the end of 1932. Wesley eventually took a controlling interest in the newspaper and help it grow to become, in 1945, the largest black-owned business in Houston. [6]
Wesley was also the owner of the Dallas Express; which was one of the papers that were published by Freedman's Publishing Company. Wesley was sent with ten other black publishers to Germany to "investigate claims of discrimination against black servicemen in that country." [4]
References
- 1 2 Shabazz, Almicar (2004). "Carter Wesley & the Making of Houston’s Civic Culture before the Second Reconstruction" (PDF). Houston Review 1 (2).
- ↑ Pitre, Merline. "The Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed". BlackPast.org. Retrieved 5 November 2015.
- ↑ Rummel, Jack (2003). African American Social Leaders and Activists. New York: Facts on File. pp. 214–215.
- 1 2 3 Burns, Richard (2010). "http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fwe28". http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fwe28. Retrieved 5 November 2015. External link in
|website=, |title=(help) - ↑ "Carter Walker Wesley". Lawbrain. Retrieved 5 November 2015.
- ↑ "Carter Walker Wesley". To Bear Fruit For Our Race. University of Houston.