Our Empowerment

ANNA DIGGS TAYLOR

Biography:

An attorney and judge, Anna Diggs Taylor was the first African-American woman appointed to a federal judgeship in Michigan and later became the first African-American woman to be named chief federal judge in the Eastern District of Michigan. Taylor has used her positions to advance civil rights throughout the United States.

Born Anna Katherine Johnston in 1932 in Washington, D.C., Taylor grew up in a household in which politics and civil rights were highly valued. Her parents sent her to private school in Massachusetts because they felt she needed a greater challenge than the local schools provided. She graduated in 1950 from Northfield School for Girls in Massachusetts and then enrolled at Barnard College where she earned a B.A. in Economics. She entered Yale University Law School and earned her law degree in 1957. After graduation she could not find a job in a private law firm due to the prejudices against African Americans and women. She found work as a solicitor for the Department of Labor, working under J. Ernest Wilkins, the first African American to hold a sub-cabinet post in the United States government. In 1960 Taylor married United States Representative Charles Diggs, Jr., and she moved to Detroit.

After moving to Detroit, Taylor worked for a year as an assistant county prosecutor in Wayne County. In 1964 she spent the summer in Mississippi as part of the National Lawyers Guild civil rights program to provide legal services for civil rights activists, arriving on the day that three civil rights workers disappeared in Philadelphia, Mississippi. When Taylor and other attorneys went to the sheriff's office to ask about the disappearance they were surrounded by a crowd of angry whites, who hurled racial epithets at Taylor and her companions. In 1966 Taylor became assistant United States attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan.

After the birth of her daughter, she worked managing her husband's Detroit office until their divorce in 1971. From 1970 to 1975 she was a partner in the law firm Zwerdling, Mauer, Diggs, and Papp. In 1976 she married S. Martin Taylor. Taylor became active in politics, helping Coleman Young in his 1973 campaign and Jimmy Carter in his 1976 victory. After Young's election, Taylor was named special counsel to the City of Detroit and then in 1975 accepted the full time position as assistant corporation counsel for the city. She successfully defended new city policies that established affirmative action hiring practices and outlawed discrimination in two private yacht clubs located on city-owned Belle Isle. Taylor became the first African-American women named to a Michigan federal court on November 15, 1979, when she was sworn in as a federal judge to the U.S. District Court for the Eastren District of Michigan. In 1997 she became the first African-American woman to be named chief judge of Eastern District of the United States District Court. In 1998 Taylor stepped down as chief judge in order to reduce her workload. She continued to serve as a senior federal judge.


Private Practice
Zwerdling, Murer, Diggs & Papp, Detroit, Michigan, 1970-1975

Judicial Experience
Judge, U. S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, 1979-1999
Chief Judge, U. S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, 1996-1998
Senior Judge, U. S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, 1999-present

Judicial Committees & Activities
Federal Judicial Center Committee on District Judge Education
Sixth Circuit Committee on Judicial Conferences

Government Service
Attorney, Office of the Solicitor, Department of Labor, 1957-1960
Assistant Prosecutor, Wayne County, Michigan, 1961-1962
Assistant U. S. Attorney, Eastern District of Michigan, 1966
Legislative Assistant/Detroit Office Manager to U. S. Rep. Charles C. Diggs, Jr., 1967-1970
Supervisory Assistant Corporation Counsel, City of Detroit, Law Department, 1975-1979

Academic Positions
Adjunct professor, Wayne State University School of Labor and Industrial Relations, 1972-1975
Adjunct professor, Wayne State University Law School, 1976-1977

Professional Associations
Michigan Association of Black Judges
Women Judges Association
Federal Judges Association
State Bar of Michigan
Federal Bar Association
Wolverine Bar Association
National Lawyer's Guild
Women Lawyers Association of Michigan

Civic & Other Activities
Trustee, Community Foundation of Southeastern Michigan
Trustee, Metropolitan Detroit Health Council
Trustee, Founders Society of Detroit Institute of Arts
Trustee, Arts Poetica Chamber Orchestra
Trustee, Henry Ford Health System Eastern Region
Vice President, Yale Law Alumni Association
Co-chair, Volunteer Leadership Coalition
Co-chair, United Way Community Services
Trustee, Herlong Episcopal Cathedral School

Honors and Awards
Women Lawyers' Division Award, National Bar Association, 1981
Michigan S.C.L.S. Millender Award, 1984
Bridge Builders' Award of Calvary Church, 1984
Alpha Phi Alpha Award, Epsilon Chapter, 1984
Sojourner Truth Award of National Negro Business and Professional Women, 1986
Absalom Jones Award of Michigan Black Episcopalians, 1986
Bench-Bar Award, Detroit and Wolverine Bar Associations, 1990
Michigan Bell "Living the Dream" Award, 1991
Menorah Award of Histadrut , 1991
"Detroit's Dynamic Women," Women's Economic Club, 1992
Trailblazers Award, Straker Bar Association, 1995
Honorary Doctor of Law (Honoris Causa)
Marygrove College, 2000
Women Lawyers of Michigan Award, 2003