The First Black Female Lawyer In America Was Born In The 1800s

May 2024 ยท 2 minute read

In 1879, Charlotte E. Ray moved back to New York City, New York. After seven years of keeping a legal practice, both racist and gendered discrimination kept her from maintaining a successful practice, according to "Women in American History." Upon moving back to New York City, Ray resumed her teaching career in the Brooklyn public school system where her sister Florence Ray reportedly worked as well. After moving back to New York City, she continued to participate in activism by joining the National Association of Colored Women in 1895.

Other than her teaching career and membership in the National Association of Colored Women, there is practically no information regarding Ray's life in New York City. She reportedly married in 1886, but there are no other records of her until her death in Woodside, New York on January 4, 1911. However, this could be due to misspelled records, as her cemetery records write her married name as Fraim while newspapers reported it to be Traim, so even her correct married name remains a mystery.

While it's likely that she continued in her activist work, there are no records of Charlotte E. Ray ever reapplies to the New York Bar and it appears as though her legal career, with all its achievements, was unfortunately very short-lived.

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