Orzell Billingsley

Orzell Billingsley
Orzell Billingsley
Born	October 24, 1924 Birmingham, Alabama
Died	December 14, 2001 (aged 77) Birmingham, Alabama
Cause of death	Natural causes
Residence	Birmingham, Alabama
Nationality	United States
Education	A. H. Parker High School Talladega College Howard University
Occupation	Lawyer
Known for	One of the first ten blacks to be admitted to the Alabama State Bar

Orzell Billingsley (October 24, 1924 – December 14, 2001) became one of the first ten blacks admitted to the Alabama Bar after attending Talladega College and Howard University.

His law practice was deeply involved with civil rights litigation, and he was one of the lead lawyers for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. during the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott. Billingsley served as General Counsel for the National Democratic Party of Alabama (NDPA) and was a delegate for the NDPA at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in 1968. Billingsley helped to incorporate more than 20 small towns in Alabama that had majority black populations. He was well known for his 15-year defense of Caliph Washington who was falsely accused of killing a white officer; it was this case that helped to end all-white juries in Alabama.^[1] Billingsley was arrested for helping to secure farmland for the Black Muslims in Alabama.^[2] Presidents John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson were known to call on Billingsley regarding the turbulence in Alabama.^[3] Billingsley was a founding member of the Alabama Lawyers Association.^[4]

He was known as the “black Patrick Henry of Alabama.”^[5]

References

1. http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?r107:2:./temp/~r107BOoKfd::
2. "WALLACE v. BREWER". Alabama: Findacase.com. Retrieved 5 March 2011.
3. Stewart, Sherrel Wheeler (19 December 2001). "Civil rights lawyer Orzell Billingsley dead at 77". Birmingham News (Birmingham Public Library Digital Collections). Retrieved 5 March 2011.
4. "Alabama Lawyers Association - About Us". Alabama Lawyers Association. Retrieved 5 March 2011.
5. Jet (Johnson Publishing Company): 61. 5 May 1996. ISSN 0021-5996 http://books.google.com/books?id=0-bkDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA61&lpg=PA61&dq=orzell+billingsley+%22black+patrick+henry%22&source=bl&ots=Nvj0QzgvjP&sig=YZs7PJaRvSMsZroBBy4lESQFuTU&hl=en&ei=7IdtTbHSJYKC8gbX5cWODQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&sqi=2&ved=0CBQQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=orzell%20billingsley%20%22black%20patrick%20henry%22&f=false. Orzell Billingsley, the black Patrick Henry of Alabama Missing or empty |title= (help)