Revius Ortique Jr. accomplished a few firsts:
- First Black lawyer elected to the House of Delegates of the Louisiana State Bar Association.
- First Black judge elected to the Orleans Parish Civil District Court in 1979, and its first Black chief judge.
- First Black justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court in 1992.
During Oritique’s 2007 portrait unveiling ceremony, Chief Justice Pascal F. Calogero Jr. said Ortique “was always concerned about people. He has held many titles … but the title I think fits him best is ‘a man of many firsts.’”
Born in New Orleans in 1924, Ortique said taking public transportation to high school opened his eyes to prejudice.
“That meant moving the (For Colored Patrons Only) screen back and forth,” he said during a PBS interview. Unless white people moved forward to fill seats, the screen could not be moved, forcing Black riders to stand. “Many times, we students were quite upset that we had to stand while there were empty seats in the front.”
According to the Louisiana Supreme Court, Ortique was a World War II Army officer. He earned his degree from Dillard University in 1947, a master’s degree from Indiana University in 1949 and a law degree from Southern University Law School in 1956.
As a civil rights attorney, Black Past states, Ortique represented Black workers to get them equal pay. He was president of the Urban League of Greater New Orleans and the National Bar Association. In the 1960s, five U.S. presidents appointed him to commissions. In 1999, he was named United Nations General alternate by President Bill Clinton.
“Whatever success I have enjoyed, I understand that I didn’t do it by myself,” Ortique said. “People have been so kind to me throughout my life. The Lord has blessed me beyond that which I deserve.”
Ortique, 84, died in 2008.
For more tales from New Orleans history, visit the Back in the Day archives.