Conrad Lynn facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Conrad J. Lynn
|
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | November 4, 1908 |
| Died | November 16, 1995 (aged 87) Pomona, New York, USA
|
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Syracuse University College of Law |
| Occupation | Attorney |
| Known for | Activism |
| Spouse(s) | Yolanda M. Moreno, Mary L. Garretson |
| Parent(s) | Joseph Lynn of Augusta, Georgia, and Nellie Irving Lynn of Aiken, South Carolina |
| Awards | The Roy Wilkins Civil Rights Award 1990, presented at the 23rd Annual NAACP image Awards |
Conrad Joseph Lynn (November 4, 1908 – November 16, 1995) was an African-American lawyer and activist. He was known for helping people who were fighting for civil rights. He often represented people who were not popular at the time.
Conrad Lynn supported many important causes. These included civil rights for all people. He also supported Puerto Rican nationalism, which is the idea of Puerto Rico becoming an independent country. He was also against the draft (when people are forced to join the military) during both World War II and the Vietnam War.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Conrad J. Lynn was born in 1908 in Newport, Rhode Island. His parents had moved there from Georgia. His mother worked in homes, and his father was a laborer. When Conrad was a child, his family moved to Rockville Centre on Long Island.
Lynn went to law school at Syracuse University. He got a scholarship for his debating skills. In 1932, he made history by becoming the first African American to graduate from the Syracuse University College of Law.
When he was younger, in the 1920s and 1930s, he was part of the Communist Party. But he left the party later. This happened because he supported oil workers in Trinidad who went on strike. He never joined the party again.
Conrad Lynn's Work as a Lawyer and Activist
Fighting for African-American Civil Rights
In April 1947, Conrad Lynn took part in something called the Journey of Reconciliation. This was a challenge to unfair Jim Crow laws that kept Black and white people separate. Many people see this as the first "freedom ride" in the American civil rights movement. It happened before the more famous Freedom Rides of the 1960s.
Sixteen civil rights activists, eight Black and eight white, rode Greyhound and Trailways buses. They traveled through several Southern states. Their goal was to show how unfair racial segregation was. They also wanted to highlight that the South was ignoring a 1946 U.S. Supreme Court decision. This decision said that segregation on buses traveling between states was against the U.S. Constitution.
Conrad Lynn was the first person in the group to be arrested. He was sitting in the white section of a bus leaving Richmond, Virginia. Lynn told the driver about the Supreme Court ruling. But the driver said he followed company rules, not the Supreme Court. After being released, Lynn continued his journey.
In 1958, Lynn got involved in a famous case in North Carolina called the "Kissing Case". The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) asked him to take the case.
This "Kissing Case" was Lynn's first time working with Robert F. Williams. Williams was another civil rights activist from North Carolina. In 1959, Lynn spoke out when Williams was suspended from the NAACP. He encouraged the NAACP to take stronger actions. Later, Lynn became Williams' lawyer. Williams had to leave the U.S. and live in Cuba, China, and Tanzania. This was to avoid being charged with kidnapping. Lynn even visited Williams in Cuba.
In the mid-1960s, Lynn worked with lawyer William Kunstler. They represented a group known as the Harlem Six.
Challenging the Military Draft
During World War II, Lynn represented his older brother, Winfred Lynn. Winfred refused to join the United States Army. He did this to protest the Army's racial segregation. He said he would serve in the unsegregated Canadian Army. But he would not serve in the segregated U.S. Army.
Conrad Lynn decided to take his brother's case. This was against the advice of groups like the NAACP. They thought supporting the war effort was best for African Americans. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) also did not want to take the case. However, an ACLU lawyer, Arthur Garfield Hays, did help Conrad Lynn defend Winfred.
Winfred Lynn's case argued that racial discrimination in the military was against the Selective Service Act of 1940. After a court ruled against Lynn in 1944, they appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. In 1945, the Supreme Court did not hear the case. They said it was no longer an issue because Winfred Lynn was already serving in the military overseas.
Looking back in 1973, Conrad Lynn said the legal fight helped. It made people, especially white people, realize that Black people disliked segregation. He believed it helped end segregation in the Army in 1948. This happened under President Harry S. Truman.
Twenty years later, in the 1960s, Lynn represented many men. These men refused to join the draft because they were against the Vietnam War. In 1970, he argued the case of Gillette v. United States before the United States Supreme Court. He challenged a law that only allowed conscientious objector status to those against all wars. He did not win this case. The court ruled in 1971 that people could not choose which wars to object to.
Supporting Puerto Rican Independence
Conrad Lynn was a long-time supporter of nationalists who wanted Puerto Rico to be independent. In the 1950s, he successfully defended Ruth Mary Reynolds. She was accused of working with the Puerto Rican Nationalist movement. They were accused of trying to overthrow the U.S. government.
He also represented Lolita Lebrón. She was one of five Puerto Rican nationalists who attacked the United States House of Representatives in 1954. They did this to bring attention to the nationalist movement. Lynn argued that the attack was a protest. He said it was justified because the U.S. occupation of Puerto Rico was illegal. Lebrón and her four co-defendants were found guilty. They received long prison sentences. Lebrón was not released until 1979. President Jimmy Carter granted her clemency, which is like a pardon.
Running for Judge
In 1972, Lynn tried to become a judge on the New York State Court of Appeals. He argued that there should be a Black man on the court. He pointed out that many people waiting for trial in state prisons were Black or Puerto Rican.
Later Years
Conrad Lynn continued to work as a lawyer and activist until a few months before he passed away. He helped start a human rights group called Refuse & Resist! in 1987. His autobiography, There Is a Fountain: The Autobiography of Conrad Lynn, was first published in 1979. A second edition came out in 1993.
Lynn was married to Mary Garretson from 1948 to 1950. He then married Yolanda Moreno in 1952, and they were together until his death in 1995. He lived in Pomona, New York for over 45 years. He passed away peacefully in his sleep on November 16, 1995. He had one child with Mary Garretson and two children with Yolanda Moreno. He also had several grandchildren.
Conrad Lynn gave his important papers to Boston University. They are kept in the Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center.
