Shaw University

of its kind for African-Americans in the country. The Law School curriculum focused on "the subjects of International and Constitutional Law, the various branches of the Common Law, Equity, and Admiralty". It was also the only black law school that had a course in legal shorthand. The course was offered on the premise that such a skill would broaden the opportunities for a black lawyer to work in a legal firm in a clerical position or as an office assistant should discrimination impede their ability to practice law. Shaw University graduated fifty-seven law students before it closed in 1916. It graduated fifty-four law students between 1891 and 1914. North Carolina politician John S. Leary was an important figure in the founding of the law school and served as its dean starting in March 1890. He was followed as dean by Edward A. Johnson, who was the law school's first graduate and later the first African-American member of the New York State Assembly. By 1900, Shaw University had trained more than 30,000 black …