Honorable Judge George N. Leighton Post Office Building
HONORABLE JUDGE GEORGE N. LEIGHTON POST OFFICE BUILDING -- (House of Representatives - May 04, 2005)
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Mr. KENNEDY of Rhode Island. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to support legislation to designate The Honorable Judge George N. Leighton Post Office Building in my neighboring State of Massachusetts. Judge Leighton was born to Cape Verdean immigrants in New Bedford, Massachusetts on October 22, 1912. Forced to leave school in the seventh grade to work on an oil tanker, he continued his education by reading books, attending night schools, and studying in Works Progress Administration classes. His education continued at the prestigious Howard University, where he graduated magna cum laude in 1940. He immediately enrolled in Harvard University's School of Law, but left to serve our Nation in World War II, where he earned a Bronze Star.
After earning his LL.B. degree from Harvard in 1946 and establishing a successful law practice in Chicago, Judge Leighton began his career as a Judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois from 1964 to 1969. He then served as a Judge of the Appellate Court, First District from 1969 to 1976. In 1976, President Ford appointed Judge Leighton to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois where he served until 1987 when he became legal Counsel to the Chicago law firm of Earl L. Neal & Associates.
Judge Leighton is certainly a hero for the estimated 15,000 Cape Verdean individuals who currently live in my home State of Rhode Island. His life is an example of how one person can overcome great obstacles to truly achieve the American Dream. Among his several accomplishments and honors, Judge Leighton was the first African-American lawyer to sit on the Board of Managers of the Chicago Bar Association, the first African-American judge to serve as a Chancellor in the Circuit Court of Cook County, and the first African-American judge to sit on the Illinois Appellate Court. I am pleased that his achievements have been recognized by the Congress with the naming of this post office and would once again like to offer my full support to this legislation.
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