Jonathan Jasper Wright: The First African American To Serve As A State Supreme Court Judge (1840-1885)
Jonathan Jasper Wright, the state’s first African American Supreme Court justice, was born in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, and grew up in nearby Susquehanna County in the state’s northeastern corner. In 1858, Wright moved to Ithaca, New York, and enrolled in the Lancasterian Academy, a school where older students assisted in the education of younger students. … Read more