Charlye Ola Farris
Wichita Falls, Wichita County, Texas
Marker Inscription
(1929 - 2010) Public school educators James Randolph Farris, Sr. and Roberta (Bell) Farris welcomed their only daughter, Charlye Ola Farris, on June 30, 1929 in Wichita Falls. Charlye graduated as valedictorian of Booker T. Washington High School at age 15, and from Prairie View A&M College in 1948 at the age of eighteen with a degree in Political Science. After a year of teaching, Charlye pursued her interest in becoming an attorney. Farris received her law degree from Howard University in Washington, D.C. in 1953. During her final year, Farris’ class worked on the landmark racial desegregation case, Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka. Charlye was sworn in on Nov. 12, 1953 as the first black woman to be licensed to practice law in Texas. Charlye started a solo practice in Wichita Falls, becoming the first black, male or female, to actively practice law in Wichita County. Charlye faced many obstacles and much discrimination in Wichita County and within the legal profession. However, in 1954, Farris was selected to serve as county judge pro-tem, making her the first black person to serve as a judge in the South since Reconstruction. Among her many awards, such as the American Bar Association’s Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement, one of her proudest was serving on the Board of Regents of Midwestern State University, where she was not permitted to attend earlier as a student due to her race. During her 56 years of legal practice, Charlye served her community in numerous ways. Her life is a testament to the determination and the impact one individual can have on a community, state, and nation. 175 Years of Texas Independence * 1836 - 2011
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Born in Wichita Falls in 1929 to a family of educators, Charlye Ola Farris was a prodigy who finished high school at 15 and college at 18 before earning her law degree at Howard University, where her class helped prepare the Brown v. Board of Education case. In 1953 she became the first Black woman licensed to practice law in Texas, then opened a solo practice in a county where no Black attorney had actively practiced. A year later she served as county judge pro-tem — the first Black person to sit as a judge in the South since Reconstruction.
Why it matters
Her career opened doors in the Texas legal profession decades before the civil-rights movement crested, showing how one determined individual could break barriers of race and gender in the Jim Crow South.
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Related people
- · Charlye Ola Farris
- · James Randolph Farris, Sr.
- · Roberta Bell Farris
Related events
- · Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Midwestern University Desegregation
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