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PB federal building renamed for Howard Thursday, Jul 3, 2008 By Larry Fugate Stephens Media PINE BLUFF - The life and career of the late George Howard Jr., Pine Bluff attorney and U.S. District Court judge, was celebrated Wednesday during a ceremony naming the federal building here in his honor. The three-story brick building at 100 E. 8th Ave. is now the George Howard Jr. Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse. Howard, Arkansas' first black federal judge, was appointed to the bench by President Carter in 1980. He died in April 2007 at age 82. He was remembered Wednesday for his patience, faith, quiet demeanor and belief that "justice was color-blind." Others cited his love for his church, family, hometown and nation. "I perceived Judge Howard first as a man of honor," said Judge Susan Webber Wright, who served with Howard on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas. She said the ceremony, a "historic event," should focus on Howard's character traits - "a quiet, polite and dignified demeanor." He presided over a number of high-profile legal cases during his career on the bench, Wright said, adding "to Judge Howard justice was color-blind." U.S. Rep. Mike Ross, D-Prescott, who introduced legislation in the House of Representatives authorizing naming of the building to honor Howard, thanked the jurist's assembled family for "sharing" Howard with so many. U.S. Senators Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor, both D-Ark., also praised Howard during the ceremony. "He's always been, in my mind, a man of honor," Pryor added. "He will be remembered for his "tenacity against racial injustice." Lincoln noted, as did others, that Howard also was the first jurist of his race named to the Arkansas Court of Appeals and the state Supreme Court. Howard left a "wonderful legacy" of what an individual can accomplish, Lincoln said. Howard's widow, Vivian S. Howard, and two daughters, Sarah Etoria Howard Jenkins, a professor of law at the William H. Bowen School of Law, and Vivian Alycia Howard, an assistant professor at New York University, unveiled the portrait of Howard that will hang in the building. Daughter Risie Rene Howard, a student at the law school in Little Rock, offered a response for the family. J. Leon Holmes, chief judge for the Eastern District of Arkansas, said the modest Howard, who received a number of awards and honors during his career on the bench, would have felt uncomfortable with the words of praise. |
