*The founding of the John M. Langston Bar Association is celebrated on this date in 1943.
They began as a small support group of Black attorneys in Los Angeles. Attorney Crispus Attucks Wright and other pioneering Black lawyers began a "law club." They founded the association in response to other bar city associations' policy of excluding Blacks as members.
It was not until the mid-1960s that the Los Angeles County Bar Association recognized the Langston Law Club (and other minority bar groups) as dues-paying bar associations. At that time, the Club officially became the John Mercer Langston Bar Association.
In 1990, the organization was incorporated as a California nonprofit corporation named The John M. Langston Bar Association of Los Angeles, Inc. The John M. Langston Bar Association of Los Angeles, Inc. is a publicly supported 501(c)(3) charity. Contributions to the organization are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.
