Judge George W. Harris

Judge George W. Harris, a member of Jackson Street United Methodist Church, was educated in the public schools of Lynchburg and was one of three African-Americans to attend the University Of Virginia School Of Engineering from 1955-1957. George received his Bachelor’s in Business Administration from VCC and while there he became a member of the famous “Richmond 34”, a group of VUU student that staged the Sit-in in at Thalhimers Department Store restaurant in 1960, where they were arrested for trespassing. This was one of the greatest moments in the Civil Rights Movement. The charge was later overturned in 1963 by the United States Supreme Court.

He received his Juris Doctorate Degree in 1967 from North Carolina Central University and pass the Bar exam that same year. In 1985 he was sworn in as the first black General District Judge of Roanoke Va., a position he held for over twenty years.

Image: Judge George W. Harris (1936-2015)