Matthew J. Perry

For other people with the same name, see Matthew Perry (disambiguation).

Matthew James Perry Jr. (August 4, 1921 – July 29, 2011) was a United States federal judge.

Born in Columbia, South Carolina, Perry was in the United States Army from 1943 to 1946, and then received a Bachelor of Science degree from South Carolina State College in 1948 and an LL.B. from South Carolina State College in 1951. He was in private practice in Spartanburg, South Carolina from 1951 to 1961, and in Columbia from 1961 to 1976. He defended Gloria Blackwell^[1] and her daughter Lurma Rackley.^[2] He led the successful court case to integrate Clemson University in 1963 and led a major South Carolina reapportionment case in 1972. He ran for the U.S. House of Representatives as a Democrat in 1974, but lost to Republican incumbent Floyd Spence.

Perry was the first African American lawyer from the Deep South to be appointed to the federal judiciary. In 1976, President Gerald Ford appointed Perry to the United States Military Court of Appeals (now the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces) in Washington, D.C.

On July 5, 1979, Perry was nominated by President Jimmy Carter to a new seat on the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina created by 92 Stat. 1629. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on September 19, 1979, and received his commission the following day, thereby becoming South Carolina's first African American federal judge. He assumed senior status on October 1, 1995.

The courthouse in Columbia, South Carolina, is named after him, although Senator Strom Thurmond wanted it named after himself.^[3]

Perry was found dead, aged 89, at his home on Sunday July 31, 2011 by a family member where his wife, Hallie, was reportedly in poor health. He was reported to have died on Friday after attending court that day.^[4]

Sources

• Matthew J. Perry at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.

References

1. ^ Carolyn Click, "Orangeburg civil rights icon, and Claflin alumna Dr. Gloria Rackley Blackwell dies" Claflin University (December 10, 2010). Retrieved June 2, 2011
2. ^ Richard Reid, "The Gloria Rackley-Blackwell story" The Times and Democrat, (February 22, 2011). Retrieved June 3, 2011
3. ^ Introduction of Judge Matthew J. Perry, Jr. Into the South Carolina Hall of Fame^{[dead link]}
4. ^ Dawn Hinshaw (1 August 2011). "S.C. mourns death of civil rights 'giant'". Herald on line. http://www.heraldonline.com/2011/08/01/3260198/sc-mourns-death-of-civil-rights.html. 

Persondata
Name	Matthew J. Perry
Alternative names
Short description	first African-American federal judge from the deep south
Date of birth	August 4, 1921
Place of birth
Date of death	July 29, 2011
Place of death