Campbell Law School’s traveling exhibit honoring the contributions of pioneering African American judges in North Carolina is on display again this year at the Wake County Justice Center in Raleigh. The exhibit was on display in the Justice Center last February for the first time. The exhibit includes Judge Elreta Melton Alexander-Ralston, Judge Sammie Chess, Jr., Judge Clifton E. Johsnon, Judge Richard C. Erwin, former Chief Justice Henry Frye, Judge Cy A. Grant, Sr., Judge Allyson K. Duncan, and former Justice Patricia Timmons-Goodson. The exhibit will remain on display through the end of February in observance of Black History Month. 

“We are proud to showcase this outstanding exhibit at the Wake County Courthouse once again,” said Wake County Senior Resident Superior Court Judge Paul Ridgeway. “We appreciate the opportunity to continue to help educate the public on the important contributions made to our judiciary by the men and women featured in the display.”

The “First African Americans on the North Carolina Bench” features a timeline of the lives and achievements of each judge and justice from 1968-2006. Numerous African American judges and justices serve on the bench in North Carolina today.

The exhibit features eight banners and can be viewed in the atrium area of the Wake County Justice Center. The installation was dedicated at Campbell Law School in February 2019 as part of Black History Month, and the banners were on public display at the City of Raleigh Museum in August 2019. Campbell Law School's goal is to feature the traveling display in various locations throughout North Carolina. The exhibit was commissioned as part of Campbell Law School’s year-long 10/40 celebration in 2019 which marked the 10th anniversary of its move from Buies Creek to downtown Raleigh and the 40th anniversary of the school’s first graduating class.