African American History Forum The Courts Enforce The Law In
1860, two Worcester barbers, Francis U. Clough and William H.
Jenkins, were the first African Americans selected to serve on a
Massachusetts jury or on any jury in the United States. The June
1860 edition of The Liberator —an important antislavery
newspaper that also opposed racism—hailed this event “as an
encouraging sign of the times." Participating in our system of
government is fundamental to helping to shape it. Some folks
don't vote (for whatever reasons). Others try to escape any form
of Jury Duty. (Can they be blamed for trying?) If you were
accused of a crime (anything, not just a violent crime, but
anything), who would you want as jurors if your case went to
trial? Who would you want as jurors if you were involved, not in
a criminal case, but in a Civil case? Read about the history of
African Americans as jurors in Massachucetts: In the African-
American community, for example, people want juries of their
peers, notes Norfolk Circuit Judge