The first African-American governor of the Virgin Islands was Knoxville native, Judge William Hastie. He was born to William Henry and Roberta (Child) Hastie on November 17, 1904, and received his primary education in the public schools in Knoxville and Washington, D.C. After graduating from Dunbar High School in Washington, Hastie entered Amherst College. First in his class, Hastie graduated in 1925 with an A.B. degree and after graduation joined the staff of New Jersey’s Bordentown Manual Training School. Three years later, he earned an LL.B. degree from Harvard University, where he served on the staff of the Harvard Law Review. Hastie joined the faculty of Howard University Law School, and in 1931 he was admitted to the District of Columbia Bar. He entered private practice in association with the law firm of Houston and Houston.
In 1937, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt appointed Hastie judge of the Federal District Court in the Virgin Islands. He became the nation’s first African-American federal magistrate. Although the Virgin Islands were 90 percent black, no person of African descent before Hastie had been appointed to a federal judgeship there. Hastie served on the bench for two years before resigning to return to Howard University’s School of Law as dean and professor of law.
From 1941 to 1943, Hastie served as civilian aide to Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson and resigned his position to protest the govemment’s racial policies of segregation and discrimination in America’s armed forces. In 1943, Hastie was awarded the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’s prestigious Springarn Medal “for his distinguished career as jurist and as an uncompromising champion of equal justice.” In 1944, Hastie supported the position of the National Committee to abolish the Poll Tax, demanding senatorial authorization of the proposed law to enjoin the levy in elections.
On May 7, 1946, Hastie was inaugurated as the first African-American governor of the Virgin Islands. On October 15, 1949, he was nominated judge of the 3rd United States Circuit Court of Appeals by President Harry S Truman. It was the highest judicial position attained by an African-American. He served on the appellate court bench for 21 years. In 1968, he became chief judge of his circuit, and in 1971, the year of his retirement from the bench, William Henry Hastie was senior judge.
Hastie died on April 14, 1976, at Suburban General Hospital in East Norriton, Pennsylvania. He was survived by his wife, the former Beryl Lockhart; a son, attorney William H. Jr.; and a daughter, attorney Karen H. Williams.
