Jonathan Jasper Wright Law Office

Jonathan Jasper Wright (1840-1885), was the first African American to sit as a justice on a state Supreme Court.  He practiced law here from 1877-1885.  Wright, from PA, came to SC in 1865 to teach, and he worked as a Freedmen’s Bureau attorney.  He was a delegate to the 1868 SC constitutional convention and was a state senator, 1868-1870. Elected to the SC Supreme Court in 1870, Wright resigned in 1877 due to political pressure.  Afterwards, he practiced law, helped Claflin College found its Law Department then became its Chair. The state marker sIts in front of a restaurant.

KEYWORDS: SC SUPREME COURT, FREEDMEN’S BUREAU, CLAFLIN COLLEGE, CHARLESTON COUNTY, GULLAH GEECHEE CULTURAL HERITAGE CORRIDOR