William T. Francis

Who was William T. Francis?

William Treyanne Francis was an African-American lawyer, politician, and diplomat from Minnesota.

Francis was originally from Indianapolis, Indiana, but relocated to Minnesota at an early age. He enrolled at William Mitchell College of Law in 1901 and earned his degree in 1904. Afterward, he served in the legal department of the Northern Pacific Railway. Francis opened his own law firm prior to World War I in St. Paul. In 1920, he was president elector at the Republican State Convention. Francis and his wife were instrumental in shepherding an anti-lynching law through the Minnesota Legislature in 1921. In 1927, he was appointed U. S. Minister to Liberia by President Calvin Coolidge. He died two years later of yellow fever in Monrovia. He was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.