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New Castle Co. Courthouse will bear name of pioneering black judge

Delaware Public Media

The New Castle County Courthouse will be named in honor of the state's second African-American judge.

The late Leonard Williams was also one of the first black students at the University of Delaware.

He went onto become the law partner of the state's first black lawyer, Louis Redding, who argued a civil rights case that went onto become part of Brown vs. Board of Education and desegregation.

Williams died in 2013 at age 78. In a statement, Gov. Jack Markell says he "played a significant role in the civil rights movement in Delaware."

The move to name the county courthouse for him fulfills a deed requirement set by the city of Wilmington in the late 1990s. It said any courthouse built on that land should bear Judge Williams' name.