2005 AAJ Minority Caucus
Johnnie L. Cochran, Jr. Soaring Eagles Award Recipient

Judge Horace T. Ward

Horace T. Ward was born and raised in LaGrange, Georgia, and graduated from East Depot High School as valedictorian. Mr. Ward graduated from Morehouse College with a Bachelor of Arts Degree, Atlanta University with a Master of Arts Degree, and Northwestern University School of Law with a Juris Doctor Degree. Morehouse College and LaGrange College awarded Mr. Ward honorary Doctor of Laws Degrees.

In September, 1950, Ward applied for admission to the University of Georgia Law School; being the first person of color to formally seek admission to the State-supported university. When university officials denied him admission, he filed suit in the federal district court contending racial discrimination. After several years and a trial, the case was dismissed in 1957 on technical grounds without reaching the merits of the case (race discrimination). After completing his legal education at Northwestern University School of Law in 1959, Mr. Ward returned to Georgia to practice law in 1960. He was one of the attorneys in the University of Georgia case which resulted in the first persons of color being admitted to the university– Hamilton Holmes and Charlayne Hunter in 1961. The other lawyers were Donald L. Hollowell and Constance Baker Motley.

Mr. Ward taught political science on the college level for four years in the 1950's, one year at Arkansas A.M.&N. College and three years at the Mobile branch of Alabama State College. He also served two years in the United States Army (1953-1955), including one year in Korea.

Mr. Ward practiced law in the firm of Hollowell, Ward, Moore & Alexander and successor firms from 1960-1974. The lawyers in this firm conducted essentially a state-wide law practice, handling several significant civil rights cases, including the Martin Luther King, Jr. case in DeKalb County, Georgia. The partners in this firm were Donald L. Hollowell, Horace Ward, Howard Moore, Jr., and William Alexander. During this same time period, Mr. Ward served as a Deputy City Attorney of Atlanta (1969-70) and an Assistant Fulton County Attorney (1971-1974).

In 1964, Mr. Ward was elected to the Georgia State Senate, being the second black person to be elected to that body since the Reconstruction Period. Ward was reelected to four two-year terms, serving with Jimmy Carter both as a State Senator and as a Governor. While in the State Senate, Ward served on several key committees and was chairman of the Fulton County delegation for two years. The first black person elected to the State Senate was LeRoy R. Johnson, a classmate of Ward's at Morehouse.

Judge Ward was appointed to the Civil Court of Fulton County (now State Court) by Governor Jimmy Carter in 1974, being the first black trial court judge in Georgia. He was elevated to the Fulton County Superior Court by Governor George Busbee in 1977. In 1979, he was appointed to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia by President Jimmy Carter, where he still serves, but as a senior judge since January, 1994. As a federal judge, Ward presided over trials involving many substantial civil and criminal law cases, including the Jan Kemp case (Dr. Jan Kemp v. Ervin and Trotter). This case was a free speech case in which Dr. Kemp criticized favorable treatment of student athletes in the developmental studies program at the University of Georgia, resulting in her dismissal as a faculty member. In this case, Dr. Kemp received a large monetary award by the jury.

Judge Ward was married to Ruth LeFlore Ward. They had one son; both his wife and son are now deceased. Judge Ward has four grandchildren. He is a member of Friendship Baptist Church located in Atlanta, GA.

Mr. Ward is the central figure in a documentary entitled, "Foot Soldier for Justice," produced by persons associated with the University of Georgia (Dr. Maurice Daniels and others). Phase I and II of the film have been shown on public television in Georgia, with Julian Bond as the narrator of the documentary. Mr. Ward is also the principle figure in a book by Dr. Maurice Daniels entitled, Horace T. Ward: Desegregation of the University of Georgia, Civil Rights Advocacy, and Jurisprudence (Clark Atlanta University Press 2001), and is featured in a book by Dr. Robert A. Pratt entitled, We Shall Not Be Moved, (University of Georgia Press, 2002).

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