[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 36 (Friday, March 12, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E369]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            PAYING TRIBUTE TO THE LATE STUART DUNNINGS, JR.

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. MIKE ROGERS

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, March 12, 2010

  Mr. ROGERS of Michigan. Madam Speaker, I rise to honor the 
accomplishments of the late Stuart Dunnings, Jr., the first African-
American attorney to practice law in Michigan's Capitol City of 
Lansing, and founder in 1950 of the city's first African-American owned 
law firm.
  Mr. Dunnings, who passed away March 10, 2010, at age 85, was a 
champion of minorities from the beginning. President of the Lansing 
Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored 
People in 1951, he had been involved in the civil rights movement for 
half a century. He led the fight to get Lansing schools to hire more 
black teachers and successfully represented a Detroit basketball team's 
black student athletes when they were refused hotel rooms while in a 
Lansing tournament.
  Mr. Dunnings was co-counsel in school desegregation lawsuits in 
several Michigan cities, and served on civil rights committees and in 
lawsuits seeking equality for minorities.
  In 1992 he was honored by the Michigan State Bar Association as the 
``Champion of Justice.'' He was inducted into the National Bar 
Association Hall of Fame.
  Mr. Dunnings and his late wife Janet had four children: Stuart III, 
Steven, Susan and Shauna. All four have law degrees, and one of eight 
grandchildren is attending law school. Stuart III is the Ingham County 
Prosecutor.
  Born in Staunton, Virginia, Mr. Dunnings graduated from Lincoln 
University, then from the University of Michigan Law School. During 
college, he hitchhiked back and forth to the east coast to visit family 
and seek employment in places like Washington, D.C. before opening his 
Lansing practice. He often hitchhiked to the courthouse in Mason when 
his cases were before the court.
  Facing the challenges of being the city's first black attorney, Mr. 
Dunnings practiced law until mid-afternoon, worked the Oldsmobile 
evening shift on the fender line, and spent weekends cleaning his 
office building to support himself and his family.
  Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring the late 
Stuart Dunnings, Jr., a man whose hard work, family commitment, and 
community spirit represent all that is good about our great nation and 
its people. Mr. Dunnings is truly deserving of our respect and 
admiration.

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