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• 1 2020-08-14T16:43:33+00:00 Jewel LaFontant-MANkarious 10 plain 2020-08-19T14:52:25+00:00 Jewel LaFontant-MANkarious (1922-1997, OC 1943) was a prominent lawyer and activist. She graduated from Oberlin College in 1943 with a B.A. in political science. LaFontant-MANkarious went on to complete her Doctor of Laws degree from the University of Chicago Law School in 1946. She was the first African-American woman to receive a Doctor of Laws degree from that institution. In 1955, President Dwight D. Eisenhower appointed her to the position of assistant U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, which she held until 1958. LaFontant-MANkarious was also known for her 1963 United States Supreme Court case, Beatrice Lynum v. State of Illinois, which ruled that Lynum’s confession was not legally admissible because she was coerced and her “due process” was violated. LaFontant-MANkarious was a representative to the United Nations General Assembly and the U.S. Deputy Solicitor General from 1972 to 1975. She was the first African American woman to hold a high position in the Solicitor General’s office. Between 1989 and 1993, she served as the Ambassador-at-Large and Coordinator of Refugee Affairs for the State Department. Over the course of her distinguished career, LaFontant-MANkarious received many honorary degrees and awards for her legal and humanitarian work, including an honorary degree from Oberlin College in 1979.  
  
  
  
  Sources:
  Gottwald, Melissa. “Jewel LaFontant-MANkarious Papers, 1875-1997.” Oberlin College Archives. Accessed January 30, 2020. http://oberlinarchives.libraryhost.com/index.php?p=collections/controlcard&id=186&q=jewel