Even more than a century after his death, Ely Samuel Parker, an aide to Ulysses S. Grant during the Civil War and an official in the federal government, is still adding to his achievements.
On Friday, Parker was admitted to the New York State Bar Association, 176 years after he was denied entry because of his race, becoming the first Native American to be admitted to a state bar posthumously, according to legal experts.
Parker was a member of the Senecas, one of the nations of the Haudenosaunee (or Iroquois) Confederacy that had called western and central New York home for centuries. The law, however, did not consider most Native Americans U.S. citizens when Parker first attempted to become a lawyer at about 21 years old.
“His identity should never have been in question,” Melissa Parker Leonard, a descendant of Parker’s, said during the ceremony on Friday at a Buffalo courthouse. “The failure was never his; it was the law itself.”
Parker, who rose to become a high-ranking officer in the U.S. Army, is best known for his service during the Civil War. He helped draft, and then wrote out by hand, the terms of surrender that Robert E. Lee signed in April 1865.
“I am glad to see one real American here,” General Lee said, noting Parker’s presence.
The post Seneca Soldier and Statesman Can Finally Add Lawyer to His Legacy appeared first on New York Times.
