Robert Richard Bond facts for kids
Robert R. Bond (born September 26, 1918 – died October 18, 1969) was a very important lawyer. He was the first person to graduate from what is now called the North Carolina Central University School of Law (NCCU School of Law). He finished his studies in 1943. That same year, he was the only African American to pass the North Carolina bar exam, which is a test lawyers must pass to practice law.
Early Life and Education
Robert R. Bond was born on September 26, 1918. His parents, John Bond, Sr. and Mary Bond, were both school teachers. His father, John Sr., was also a principal at a Rosenwald School, which were schools built for African American children in the South. A high school, the John B. Bond High School, was even named after his father.
Robert Bond finished high school in 1935. In 1937, he started attending North Carolina College for Negroes, which is now NCCU. He studied business administration there. At first, he wanted to go to medical school after college. However, he was convinced to become a lawyer instead.
Law School Challenges
Bond signed up for NCCU School of Law in 1939. But he was the only student who registered! Because of this, the school's opening was delayed until September 1940. The law school was created because of a big court case in 1938. The U.S. Supreme Court decided that states had to provide Black students with law schools that were "substantially equal" to those for white students.
Being a student at this new law school was very hard for Bond. The school only had a small space in the main university building. It didn't have many teachers. So, Bond often went to nearby law schools like the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) and Duke University. He would sit in the back of their classes, even though he couldn't join in. Sometimes, professors from UNC and Duke would visit NCCU School of Law to test Bond or teach him. But most of the time, Bond had to learn the material on his own.
The NCCU School of Law also didn't have its own library. This meant Bond had to use the libraries of other schools. He could only go at night because African Americans were not allowed in those libraries during the day. Even with all these difficulties, Robert Bond became the first graduate of NCCU School of Law in 1943.
A Career Fighting for Rights
In 1943, Robert Bond was the only African American to successfully pass the North Carolina bar exam. After that, he moved to Washington, D.C., and worked for the Social Security Administration until 1947. Then, he moved to Wilmington, North Carolina to start his own law practice.
Robert Bond was the only Black lawyer in Wilmington for his entire life. He was a strong supporter of civil rights. Because of his work, he often faced threats and harassment. He would even find notes on his car saying "the KKK is watching you." In 1953, Bond married Margaret Farnsworth, and they had a daughter named Michele.
He worked very hard to end segregation in the New Hanover County schools. He filed a lawsuit and convinced Black families to send their children to their local neighborhood schools. This helped force the schools to desegregate. He also helped free people who were jailed during civil rights protests in Wilmington.
Bond worked on one of the first court cases about hospital discrimination. He and another important Black lawyer, Conrad Pearson, represented three African American doctors. These doctors argued that they should not be kept from working at the James Walker Memorial Hospital just because of their race. They said this was against the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The court eventually dismissed the case. However, it still encouraged other lawyers to fight against racial discrimination in public places.
Robert Bond was a member of many professional and social groups. These included the North Carolina Lawyer's Association and the Wilmington, North Carolina Bar Association. He was also a member of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity. Today, a portrait of Robert Bond hangs in the NCCU School of Law. It honors him as the school's first graduate.
Robert Bond passed away on October 18, 1969.
