DISTRICT ATTORNEY BROWN PRESIDES OVER CEREMONY HONORING WILLIAM TUCKER GARVIN, FIRST AFRICAN-AMERICAN ASSISTANT DISTRICT ATTORNEY APPOINTED IN QUEENS COUNTY

In celebration of Black History Month, District Attorney Richard A. Brown today honored William Tucker Garvin, the first African-American to be appointed as an Assistant District Attorney in Queens County. Mr. Garvin, who was appointed to the position in January 1952, served until shortly before his death in August 1966.

District Attorney Brown was joined by members of the Garvin family, including Mr. Garvin’s sister, Earlene Garvin Hollingsworth, and by members of the District Attorney’s Office.

"William Tucker Garvin was an African-American man whose accomplishments are to be regarded as exemplary in any time, in any season," said District Attorney Brown. "His level of commitment to excellence and to the service of others parallels the lives of countless leaders in the African-American community including Martin Luther King, Booker T. Washington, Roy Wilkins, Ralph Bunche and so many others."

"Mr. Garvin’s life tells of a man of courage, tenacity and the willingness to work hard in order to achieve his goals," District Brown continued. "As the first African- American prosecutor in Queens, William Tucker Garvin paved the way for others to follow."

William Tucker Garvin was born on November 28, 1898 in Ladson, South Carolina. He was the eldest of eight children. Upon graduating from Orangeburg State College in South Carolina, Mr. Garvin moved to Manhattan where he worked in the post office while attending law school. He graduated from St. John’s University Law School in 1931 as one of two of the first African-American graduates from the Law School. He went on to establish a civil practice in Harlem and later moved to Queens where in 1943 he was appointed by the Queens Borough President to serve on Local School Board 50 -- the first African-American to hold that position.

Nine years later, Mr. Garvin was sworn in as an Assistant District Attorney by former District Attorney T. Vincent Quinn. He was reappointed on January 1, 1956 by District Attorney Frank D. O’Connor and reappointed again on January 1, 1966 by District Attorney Nat H. Hentel.

William Tucker Garvin was active in numerous organizations including the Queens Pontiac Democratic Club, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the Rego Park Lions Club and the Rotary Club. He was also a member of the National Bar Association, an association of African-American lawyers, as well as the Prime Hall Masons. As one of the founders of the Westminster Presbyterian Church in Jamaica, Queens, Mr. Garvin served as a deacon and then as an elder.