Samuel Laing Williams

Biography

Samuel Laing Williams (January 10, 1857 – December 21, 1921) was an American lawyer and community leader. He was the first African American to graduate from the Law School of the George Washington University, then called Columbian University, in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1821 as Columbian College, Columbian University briefly admitted African Americans to its law program some time between 1865 and about 1890. Williams may have been the first African American admitted to any GW program when he applied in 1882; he experienced discrimination from his white peers but was said to have eventually won their respect, along with that of the faculty, who awarded him a top law thesis prize.

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