James Benton Parsons

Who was James Benton Parsons?

James Benton Parsons was the first African-American to serve as a United States federal judge.

Parsons was born in Kansas City, Missouri and first lived in St. Louis, where his father was an evangelist and missionary with the Disciples of Christ Church. The family subsequently lived in Lexington, KY; Dayton, OH; and Bloomington, IN; before settling in Decatur, IL. He wanted to be a lawyer by the time he was in junior high school. He was named "class orator" for Decatur High School class of 1929, the "first race student" to receive this honor. He was on the basketball team at Decatur High coached by Gay Kintner and also in the school band and orchestra. He earned a B.A. from Millikin University in 1934. While working as acting head of music at Lincoln University, he met Nathaniel Dett, a former teacher at Lincoln who had returned for a guest performance. Dett subsequently offered Parsons a job at Bennett College, Greensboro, NC, where he was director of music, to re-score some of Dett's chorales. By 1939, Parsons had become director of instrumental music for Greensboro's Negro schools.