Judge Robert Herbert Terrell's Harvard Diploma
date: label: Date made
content: 1884
name: label: associated person
content: Terrell, Robert Herbert
label: associated institution
content: Harvard University
label: maker
content: Harvard University
notes: label: Description (Brief)
content: Diploma awarded to Judge Robert Herbert Terrell from Harvard University. Rectangular. Gothic type of print in Latin: "SENATUS [/] COLLEGII [/] HARVADIANI [/] HEADEMICUS..." In wooden frame, circa 1890.
label: Description (Brief)
content: Despite bitter opposition to his appointment from Southern Democratic Senators, Terrell became the first African American judge in the nation's capital on January 15, 1910, a position in which he served until his death in 1925. Born in Charlottesville, Virginia, November 27, 1857, he was educated in DC Public Schools, Groton Academy in Massachusetts, and graduated cum laude from Harvard University in 1884. He taught in DC public schools while working as chief clerk in the office of the auditory of the U.S. Treasury and was principal of the Preparatory School for Colored Youth where he met his future wife, Mary Church Terrell when she accepted a teaching post at the school. He earned his LL.M. from Howard University Law School in 1893 and practiced law in the city from 1892 until 1898, returning to teaching and becoming principal of the M Street High School before becoming a municipal judge and teaching at Howard University Law School. In 1911, he became a charter member of Sigma Pi Phi, the oldest black fraternity in the nation.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: Place Made
content: United States: Massachusetts, Cambridge
topic: label: used
content: Education
label: classified
content: African American
setName: label: See more items in
content: Home and Community Life: Education
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: George Aneiro
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1984.0287.01
label: accession number
content: 1984.0287
label: catalog number
content: 1984.0287.01
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Diploma
label: Object Type
content: Diploma
label: Object Type
content: commencements
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: ink (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: parchment (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: wood (frame material)
label: Physical Description
content: glass (frame material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 49.5 cm x 58.4 cm x 2.5 cm; 19 1/2 in x 23 in x in