Richard Erwin

Richard Cannon Erwin (1923-2006) was an American jurist and politician who was the first African American to be elected to statewide office in North Carolina.

After serving in the United States Army, Erwin graduated from Johnson C. Smith University and Howard University School of Law.

Erwin served on his local school board in Winston-Salem, North Carolina (1961-68), on the North Carolina State Board of Education (1971-77), and was elected to two terms in the North Carolina Senate as a Democrat. In 1977, Governor Jim Hunt appointed him to the North Carolina Court of Appeals. In 1978, the voters of the state elected him to continue as an Appeals Court judge.

In 1980, President Jimmy Carter appointed Erwin as the first black federal judge in North Carolina. Erwin later became chief judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina from 1988 until he asssumed senior status on September 22, 1992.

References

* [http://www.fjc.gov/servlet/tGetInfo?jid=716 Federal Judicial Center biography]
* [http://www.ncbar.org/news/1/1960/index.aspx NC Bar Association: Judge Richard Erwin, Former NCBA VP, Dies]