The HistoryMakers

Judge George N. Leighton was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts, on October 22, 1912. His parents, Ana Silva Garcia and Antonio Neves Leitao, were immigrants to this country from the Portuguese Cape Verde Islands. Due to his family's poverty, Leighton was unable to attend high school. However, he spent his free time reading, and won a $200 college scholarship essay contest. He then gained admission to Howard University as an Unclassified Student. On June 7, 1940, Leighton graduated magna cum laude and earned a scholarship to Harvard Law School.

On March 6, 1942, Leighton was ordered to active duty as an infantry officer and rose to the rank of Captain before he was relieved of active duty on February 6, 1946. He returned to his Harvard Law School studies, took and passed the bar examination of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts before finishing law school; and then, went to Chicago, Illinois, where he was admitted to the Bar on January 20, 1947.

Leighton served as Chairman of the Legal Redress Committee of the Chicago NAACP. Between 1947 and 1952, he was President of the Third Ward Regular Democratic Organization. He was appointed assistant Illinois Attorney General in 1949, served two years in that post. In 1951, Leighton co-founded one of the largest predominantly African American law firms in the country. That same year, he served as President of the Chicago Branch, NAACP, and was re-elected for a second term.

Leighton was elected Judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County in 1964, and in the next year, he began teaching law at the John Marshall Law School. In 1969, Leighton was assigned to sit as a Justice of the Illinois Appellate Court, First Judicial District, the first time in the history of Illinois that a person of color ever held that position. In 1975, on the recommendation of Senior United States Senator from Illinois, Charles Percy, President Gerald Ford nominated Leighton to serve as a lifetime United States District Judge in the Northern District of Illinois. He was confirmed, took office and retired from the federal bench on November 30, 1987. Leighton returned to the practice of law with the law firm of Earl L. Neal & Associates.

Leighton has played a leadership role in governmental groups, serving as Chairman of the Character and Fitness Committee of the First Appellate District of Illinois, and Chairman of the Illinois Advisory Committee of the United States Commission of Civil Rights. Leighton has participated in civic groups, serving on the Board of Directors of the United Church of Christ, and Grant Hospital. He and his late wife, Virginia Berry Quivers, have two daughters, Dr. Virginia Anne Reynolds and Mrs. Barbara Elaine Whitfield.

Leighton was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on May 30, 2002.