2013 Meeting Programs

February 7th Program Details
Featured Speaker: Mr. Irving Joyner
"The Intentional Destruction of African-American Schools
in Response to Brown vs. Board of Education"

Law professor Irving Joyner of the North Carolina Central University (NCCU) School of Law will be the featured speaker for the February 7, 2013 meeting of the Granville County Genealogical Society at 6:30 p.m. in the large meeting room of the Richard H. Thornton Library.  In conjunction with Black History Month, the topic of Joyner's program will be " The Intentional Destruction of African-American Schools in Response to Brown vs. Board of Education".  According to Joyner, his presentation will focus on "the history and closing of Mary Potter High School and the subsequent treatment of African-American students and teachers who were negatively impacted by the closing of the African-American school".

Irving Joyner earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from Long Island University (Brooklyn, New York) and a Juris Doctor degree with honors from Rutgers State University School of Law (Newark, New Jersey).  Since 1982, he has been a Professor of Law at the NCCU School of Law.  From 1984 to 1992, he was Associate Dean for the Law School.  Joyner has authored three editions (in 1989, 1999, and 2006) of his book, Criminal Procedure in North Carolina, along with annual supplements to that publication.  He is regularly featured in the local, state and national media (TV, radio, newspapers and the internet), providing commentary on legal and political issues usually pertaining to civil rights and racial justice.

Prior to coming to NCCU, Joyner was a partner in private practice with the Raleigh law firm of Currie, Pugh, Simmons and Joyner, specializing in civil rights, criminal law, bankruptcy and appellate practice.  Before that, he was a staff attorney with the National Prison Project of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in Washington, D.C.  Prior to that, from 1964 to 1978, he worked for the Commission for Racial Justice of the United Church of Christ in New York, New York.  Through this program, he played a significant role in efforts to defend and ultimately free "The Wilmington Ten".

Outside of academia, Joyner is currently serving a five-year term as the Vice-Chairman for the 1898 Wilmington Race Riot Commission of the North Carolina General Assembly.  He is also Chairman of the Legal Redress Committee of the North Carolina State Branches of the NAACP, as well as a member of the North Carolina Indigents' Defense Services Commission.  Other professional affiliations include memberships in the North Carolina State Bar, United States District Court Bars for the Eastern and Middle Districts of North Carolina, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals Bar, the United States Supreme Court Bar and the Fourteenth District Bar.  He is also a member of the Board of the North Carolina Association of Black Lawyers and the North Carolina Advocates for Justice.

Over the course of his career, Joyner has received numerous honors for his work.  These include:  Lawyer of the Year by the George H. White Bar Association (a Durham County African-American lawyers' organization); Lawyer of the Year by the North Carolina Association of Black Lawyers; and Professor of the Year by the NCCU Law School students.

The meetings of the society are open and guests are cordially invited to join with the society members to hear this presentation, to be given at 6:30 P.M. on February 7, 2013 in the large conference room at R. H. Thornton Library in Oxford.

All GCGS meetings are open to the public and guests are cordially invited to attend.

 

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Questions or comments send to: GCGS.office@gmail.com