Archibald Carey, Jr.

Archibald J. Carey, Jr (1908- ) was an American lawyer, judge, politician, diplomat and clergyman from the south side of Chicago. He was elected as a city alderman and served for eight years under the patronage of the politician William L. Dawson. He served for several years as a pastor in the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church, when he became known as a civil rights activist. In 1957 he was appointed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower as chair of his committee on government employment policy, working to reduce racial discrimination.

Appointed to the federal Circuit Court in 1966, Judge Carey became a major figure in Chicago's political life, serving until 1979. He won numerous awards for his oratorical skills and contributions to civic improvement.

Early life and education

Born to Archibald Carey and his wife, Carey, Jr. was a native of Chicago. He attended Wendell Phillips High School. He graduated from John Marshall Law School in Chicago. In college he became a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.^[1]

Career

After being accepted to the bar, Carey set up a practice in Chicago. He became politically active and allied with William L. Dawson, a leading African-American politician on the city's South Side. Carey was twice elected to serve as an alderman from Chicago's Third Ward, serving from 1947 to 1955. During this time, he was chosen to give a speech to the 1952 Republican National Convention, which met that year in Chicago, and called for equal rights for all minorities.^[2]

The following year, Carey was appointed as an alternate delegate from the United States to the United Nations, serving from 1953 to 1956. On August 3, 1957, he was appointed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower as Chair of the President's Committee on Government Employment Policy, the first African American to hold this position. Already a confidante of Martin Luther King, Jr. and active in the national civil rights movement, Carey worked to end employment discrimination in the government against blacks.^[3]

Carey was appointed as a federal Circuit Court judge in Chicago in 1966. He served until 1978, when he was forced by law to retire from the bench at 70 years of age. Because of the court's large caseload, he was reappointed to serve another year.

AME Church

In 1960 Carey addressed the World Methodist Council held in Oslo, Norway that year, discussing how AME activists in the United States drew from Wesleyan theology and praxis in their approach. He noted that they were inspired by the work of Richard Allen, the founder and first bishop of the AME Church. He was among numerous AME clergy and members who were active in the civil rights movement, but the institution as a whole at the time did not strongly embrace activism.^[4] Carey served as pastor of Quinn Chapel AME Church in Chicago through 1967, when he was named pastor emeritus.

He died on April 21, 1981 in Chicago.

"Let Freedom Ring"

The following is an excerpt from the end of Carey's speech to the 1952 Republican National Convention.

"We, Negro Americans, sing with all loyal Americans: 'My country 'tis of thee,/Sweet land of liberty,/Of thee I sing./Land where my fathers died,/ Land of the Pilgrims' pride,/From every mountainside,/Let freedom ring!' That's exactly what we mean—from every mountain side, let freedom ring. Not only from the Green Mountains and White Mountains of Vermont and New Hampshire; not only from the Catskills of New York; but from the Ozarks in Arkansas, from the Stone Mountain in Georgia, from the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia—let it ring not only for the minorities of the United States, but for the persecuted of Europe, for the rejected of Asia, disfranchised of South Africa and for the disinherited of all the earth—may the Republican Party, under God, from every mountainside, 'LET FREEDOM RING.'"^[5]

The historian D. D. Hansen notes that some critics suggest that Martin Luther King Jr. plagiarized from this speech in creating his own celebrated "I have a dream" speech, while others disagree, noting that many of the motifs and tropes were part of a common language.^[6]

References

Further reading

• William J. Grimshaw, Bitter Fruit: Black Politics and the Chicago Machine, 1931-1991, University Of Chicago Press (1992) ISBN 978-0-226-30893-7