[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 152 (Tuesday, October 20, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2578-E2579]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          JUDGE GEORGE D. CARROLL COURTHOUSE RENAMING CEREMONY

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. GEORGE MILLER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, October 20, 2009

  Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Madam Speaker, I rise today and 
invite my colleagues to join me in honoring Judge George D. Carroll of 
Richmond, California, for his many years of service to the community. 
Judge Carroll has provided remarkable leadership to the citizens of 
Richmond and his legacy will be forever recognized as the Richmond 
Courthouse is renamed in his honor on October 16, 2009.
  George Carroll was born on January 6, 1923 in Brooklyn, New York. He 
served in the United States Army during World War II and was stationed 
in Italy. Judge Carroll subsequently used his GI Benefits to attend 
college and law school, graduating from Brooklyn College in 1943 and 
Brooklyn Law School in 1950. Following his admittance to the New York 
Bar, he ran a private practice in New York from 1951-1952.
  In 1953, Judge Carroll moved to Richmond, California and his 
trailblazing legacy began. The same year he moved to Richmond, he 
became the city's first African American lawyer to practice law; 
serving in private practice until 1965. Judge Carroll continued to 
break racial barriers in 1961 by becoming the first African American 
elected to the Richmond City Council. From 1964-1965 he served as 
Richmond's first African American Mayor, a position unprecedented in 
any large American city. And finally, Judge Carroll became the first 
African American County Supervisor for Contra Costa County, California. 
Governor Edmund G. (Pat) Brown appointed Judge Carroll to the Contra 
Costa Municipal Court in May 1965 making him the first African American 
Judge to be appointed in Contra Costa County, where he served until his 
retirement in 1985.
  Judge Carroll is a founding member of the Judicial Council of the 
National Bar Association and a lifetime member of the NAACP as well as 
the Sigma Pi Phi and Omega Psi Phi Fraternities. He is a former member 
of the Charles Houston Bar Association, California Judges Association, 
American Bar Association, American Judicature Society, World 
Association of Judge of the World Peace Through Law Center, Board of 
Governors of the United Bay Area Crusade, Richmond Boys' Club and the 
Neighborhood House of North Richmond.
  Madam Speaker, as a result of Judge Carroll's leadership, advocacy 
and promotion

[[Page E2579]]

of equal rights, we as a community have benefitted tremendously. I am 
delighted to have this opportunity to recognize Judge Carroll's 
tireless efforts and ask all Members of the House to join me in 
congratulating him as the Richmond Courthouse is officially renamed The 
George D. Carroll Courthouse.

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