Aloyisus Leon Higginbotham, Jr.

Aloyisus Leon Higginbotham, Jr. (February 25, 1928 - December 14, 1998) was a prominent African American civil rights advocate, author, and federal appeals court judge. Higginbotham was the seventh African American Article III judge appointed in the United States, and the first African American judge on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. He served as Chief Judge of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals from 1990 to 1991. He used the name "Leon" informally. Higginbotham was born on February 25, 1928 in Ewing, a suburb of Trenton, New Jersey. His mother, Emma Lee Higginbotham, was a maid, and his father, Aloyisus Leon Higginbotham, Sr., was a factory worker. Higginbotham was raised in a largely African...