Edward Richard Dudley III (1911-2005)

Edward R. Dudley III was born in South Boston, VA, and was raised in the family’s home three blocks west of here. After high school in Roanoke, he graduated from Johnson C. Smith University in NC and earned a law degree in 1941 in NY. Working with Thurgood Marshall on the NAACP’s legal team, he challenged racial discrimination in education, voting, and transportation. Pres. Harry Truman appointed Dudley minister to Liberia in 1948 and ambassador in 1949, making him the U.S.’s first Black ambassador. Dudley worked to secure equal treatment for Black foreign service officers. After returning to NY, he became borough president of Manhattan in 1961 and served on the state’s Supreme Court (1965-1985).