[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 20]
[Senate]
[Page 28519]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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                    CONGRATULATING CHARLYE O. FARRIS

 Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, Charlye O. Farris was licensed 
to practice law by the State of Texas on November 12, 1953.
  She was the first African American woman licensed to practice law in 
Texas.
  On July 7, 1954, when Charlye O. Farris became a special county judge 
in Wichita County, TX, she became the first African American to serve 
in the South as a judge in any capacity since Reconstruction.
  Charlye O. Farris is a native of Wichita Falls, TX, and a graduate of 
Booker T. Washington High School and Prairie View A&M College. She 
earned her Bachelor of Laws degree from Howard University in May, 1953, 
and has overcome significant and numerous barriers in order to practice 
law. She is the recipient of the Gertrude E. Rush Award of the National 
Bar Association for her service and achievements as an African American 
lawyer.
  Charlye O. Farris received the Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of 
Achievement Award from the Commission on Women in the Profession of the 
American Bar Association, which recognizes women who have excelled in 
the legal profession and helped pave the way for other women entering 
the field. Her accomplishments as a woman, African American, lawyer, 
and community leader have made her a role model for countless Texans. 
Senator John Cornyn and I congratulate Charlye O. Farris on the 
occasion of her 50th anniversary as a lawyer practicing in 
Texas.

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