Judge Richard E. Fields 100th Birthday

Floor Speech

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Mr. CUNNINGHAM. Madam Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the 100th birthday of Judge Richard E. Fields of Charleston, South Carolina. I am in awe of his continued public service to the Lowcountry and his trailblazing legacy for the African American community of our state.

After graduating from Howard University School of Law in 1947, Judge Fields was the first black attorney to open a law firm in Charleston. He found success after success an serve honorably as a South Carolina Circuit Court judge until his retirement in 1992.

Judge Fields is a proud worshiper at the historic Centenary Methodist Church, where he was elected as Treasurer in 1950 and still holds that position to this date. For more than 50 years, he served as the delegate to the South Carolina Annual Conference and was a member of the Merger Committee that desegregated the white and Black conferences of the United Methodist Church during the late 1960s and early 1970s. A voting rights ``champion, Judge Fields helped form the Charleston County Political Action Committee where he organized black voters and helped elect Black South Carolinians to office.

Anyone who knows Judge Fields can attest that he is a friend who quickly becomes family. He is more than willing to offer legal advice or spiritual affirmations and he does so with integrity and kindness. Not many people can say they have a U.S. Post Office named after them like Judge Fields; even less can say they have lived such a fulfilling and philanthropic life like Judge Fields. I thank Judge Fields for an incredible century of service to South Carolina.

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