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James Benton Parsons
Judge, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois · 1961
James Benton Parsons , Judge, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. James Benton Parsons (August 13, 1911 – June 19, 1993) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. He was the first African American to serve as a judge in a U.S. district court.
Education
- Millikin UniversityB.A., 1934
- University of ChicagoM.A., 1946
- University of Chicago Law SchoolJ.D., 1949
Career
U.S. Naval Reserve, 1942-1945; Private practice, Chicago, Illinois, 1949-1951; Assistant corporation counsel, Chicago, Illinois, 1949-1951; Assistant U.S. attorney, Northern District of Illinois, 1951-1960; Judge, Superior Court of Cook County [Illinois], 1960-1961; Member, Judicial Conference of the United States, 1975-1978
Biography
James Benton Parsons (August 13, 1911 – June 19, 1993) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. He was the first African American to serve as a judge in a U.S. district court.
From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).
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From Senate roll call votes, Wikidata, Wikipedia and Office of Government Ethics records.
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Capitol Receipts, “James Benton Parsons : Judge, U.S. District Court for the Northern…,” https://www.capitolreceipts.com/appointee/j1844/james-benton-parsons (accessed 2026-10-13).