Weekly Mississippi Pilot clipping

Harris, John F., 1827-1913; African American lawyers

JOHN F. HARRIS, a colored man, was admitted to the bar in our Circuit Court on Thursday last. He was examined by Messrs. Nugent, Percy, and Leroy Valliant, and is the first colored man who has been admitted to the bar in this county. To those who think that the colored people are incapable of mental improvement, we present this case. Mr. Harris was for twenty-seven years of his life a slave; and yet with the poor opportunity he had, he acquired an education that has enabled him to pass successfully an examination conducted by three of our ablest lawyers, and win the honor which he sought. [Greenville Republican.