Perry Wilbon Howard II (June 14, 1877 – February 1, 1961), also known as Perry Wilbon Howard, Jr., or usually Perry W. Howard, was an American attorney from Mississippi and partner of a prominent law firm in Washington, D.C. He served as the longtime Republican National Committeeman from the U.S. state of Mississippi from 1924 to 1960, even as he conducted his career in the capital. He was appointed in 1923 as United States Special Assistant to the Attorney General under Warren G. Harding, serving also under Calvin Coolidge, and into Herbert Hoover's administration, resigning in 1928.
Howard was twice tried on corruption-related charges stemming from his effective control over Republican patronage in Mississippi; he was black but was acquitted both times by all-white juries that feared the threat of white Republicans more than they worried about patronage issues. Following the trials, Howard resigned from his post in the United States Department of Justice, but he retained his position as head of the Republican Party in Mississippi and member of the National Committee. He continued to have a successful career as partner and head of the top black law firm in Washington, DC.
Similar to famous activist and leader Booker T. Washington, Howard was considered a "prudent accommodationist," and his speeches often drew more support from whites than blacks. During the time, these stances tended to emphasize economic self-improvement and better race relations as opposed to pushing for immediate, radical changes.
Biography
Howard was born in Ebenezer in Holmes County in central Mississippi on June 14, 1877, as the first son of Sallie and Perry Wilbon Howard, who were enslaved before the Civil War. Highly respected in the community, they bought their own farm land and sent all their seven sons to college. Howard also had a sister Sarah, who later followed him to Washington, DC, as did at least one of his brothers. He was described as mulatto, meaning mixed race with partial European ancestry, as were many African Americans.
Howard graduated from the historically black Rust College in Holly Springs, Mississippi and then studied mathematics at Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee. He studied law at Illinois College of Law in Chicago. By 1905, Howard had passed the bar, become a member of the Mississippi Bar Association, and was practicing law in the state capital of Jackson. He was among not more than two dozen black lawyers in Mississippi, the second generation of these professional men.
He married in Jackson and had a son, Perry Wilbon Howard III.
Howard became active in Republican Party politics despite the constraints of Mississippi life; most blacks in the state had been disenfranchised in 1890 when the white Democrats passed a new constitution with provisions that created barriers to voter registration, such as poll taxes and a literacy test. Howard served as a delegate to every Republican national convention from 1912 to 1960, the year before his death. He was chosen by Theodore Roosevelt in 1912 to second his nomination as presidential candidate.
Like other aspiring lawyers, Howard left Mississippi for better opportunities, moving to Washington, D.C. He became a partner in the top black law firm in Washington, Howard, Hayes and Davis (later Cobb, Hayes and Howard).