Sam Cary: A Pioneering Attorney

Nearly a century ago in Colorado, there was a remarkable attorney by the name of Samuel Cary. Cary was a remarkable attorney, in part, because he practiced law as an African-American at a time when there was very little minority representation in the American West, including Colorado. In 1910, Cary became the first African-American graduate of the Washburn University School of Law, in Topeka, Kansas (V. 42, No. 4 Washburn Law Journal 803, 822, (2004).

More importantly, however, Cary was a remarkable attorney because he dedicated his professional life and considerable skill to securing justice for all those who sought it, not merely those who could afford to pay. During a time when practicing law as an African-American was a monumental challenge in and of itself, Cary willingly took on the additional challenge of representing those individuals who might otherwise have been denied representation entirely.

As an attorney with a specialty in criminal law, Cary’s clientele was made up of the people mainstream lawyers often shunned as clients: Blacks, Asians, Indians and the poor, many of whom could ill afford to pay him. It was commonly known among his family and friends that “nearly half of Denver owed him money.” (The Colorado Lawyer, Six of the Greatest: A Tribute to Outstanding Lawyers in Colorado History, June 1994, Vol. 23, No. 7, p. 1487).

Perhaps unsurprisingly, given the timing and character of his practice, Cary’s legal career was not without controversy. In the fall of 1926, the all-white Colorado Bar Association, acting on complaints it had received, petitioned to have him disbarred. A referee was appointed to take testimony and report, and he did so, recommending disbarment on October 15, 1926. Upon review, the Supreme Court of Colorado elected not to disturb the referee’s findings and on December 20, 1926, “the name [Samuel Cary was] stricken from the roll of attorneys of [Colorado], and he [was] forbidden to appear as such in any of its courts.” (People ex rel. Colorado Bar Association v. Cary, 251 P. 597; 80 Colo. 443, 445 (1927)). Questions remain whether the punishment was harsh and unjust, and whether racial prejudice played a part in Cary’s disbarment. Years later, in 1935, Cary was reinstated to the Colorado Bar and was once again permitted to practice law.

For more information on the history of African-Americans in the Colorado legal community, including Samuel Cary, check out the following resources:

Erickson, D., Early Justice and the Formation of the Colorado Bar (2008), specifically Chapter 12: Early African-American Lawyers, available in the University of Denver Westminster Law Library (Level 3 Reference, KF332.C6 E753 2008)

Grant, Billie Arlene, Ernestine Smith and Gladys Smith, "Growing Up Black in Denver," n.d., self-published, pp. 20-22. Has a chapter on Sam Cary.

Smith, J. Clay, Emancipation: The Making of the Black Lawyer, 1844-1944, (1993) available as an electronic book via Penrose Library

Written by Marty Witt, Law Librarian Fellow