The first lawsuit filled in the South against professional organizations and societies which bar Negroes from membership reached the federal court here today.
Press Release
March 20, 1960

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Press Releases, Loose Pages. The first lawsuit filled in the South against professional organizations and societies which bar Negroes from membership reached the federal court here today., 1960. 4f69b4ab-bc92-ee11-be37-00224827e97b. LDF Archives, Thurgood Marshall Institute. https://ldfrecollection.org/archives/archives-search/archives-item/0fe12f53-f0dd-4e21-af35-3e49db0ebee7/the-first-lawsuit-filled-in-the-south-against-professional-organizations-and-societies-which-bar-negroes-from-membership-reached-the-federal-court-here-today. Accessed July 11, 2025.
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PRES 5 ROB LEAS er CONRAD O. PEARSON 2034 E. Chapel Hill St. Durham, N. C. TEL. NO. 2-6156 FOR RELEASE WEDNESDAY, MARCH 20, 12:00 Noon CHARLOTTE, N. C., March 30. -- The first lawsuit filed in the South against professional organizations and societies which bar Negroes from membership reached the federal court here today. The action is against the North Carolina Dental Society and the Second District Dental Society of North Carolina. The two associations are charged with depriving Negro dentists residing in this State, of their rights to practice in local, state and federal clinics and hospitals. The suit was filed this morning in the U. S. District Court on behalf of Dr. Reginald A. Hawkins, a prominent Negro dentist in this city, by attorneys for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. It seeks an injunction restraining the two dental societies from continuing the practice of excluding qualified Negroes from membership. The North Carolina Dental Association is the dominant profes- sional dental organization in the state and is an affiliate of the American Dental Association, the single general professional asso- ciation of dentists in the United States. The Second District Dental Society is one of five state regional chapters in the N.C.D.S. and operates under the charter of the state association. No one can become a member of either the state or the national body unless he is first a member of the local association The by-laws of the Second District Dental Society require the endorsement of two active members before an applicant can be con- sidered for membership. The application must then be unanimously approved by the executive committee in order to reach the genera! me bership. At least two-thirds of the members present must vote in favor of the applicant before he can become a member. The N.C.D.S. dominates the practice of dentistry in the state. It also determines who serves on the State Board of Dental Examiners The State Board of Dental Examiners is an official board of the State of North Carolina and approves the qualifications of dentists in the State. Further, various individual and group insurance plans, includir health and malpractice insurance, which are available at low rates, are available only to members of the state association or the American Dental Society. More important, Dr. Hawkins's attorneys point out in a complain» filed this morning, no practicing dentist residing in North Carolina who is not a member of either the local or state society can be employed by many city, state or federal clinics or hospitals. The lawyers for Dr. Hawkins ask the court to hear argument in the case and issue an injunction "forever restraining" the two societies from excluding him and other qualified Negro dentists from membership because of race or color. "These laws, regulations, customs and practices deprive Negro dentists of the right to participate in the benefits of the various activities of the societies conducted for and in the interest of dentists practicing in the State of North Carolina," the lawyers argue. NAACP Legal Defense Fund attorneys for Dr. Hawkins are Thurgood Marshall, Jack Greenberg and James M. Nabrit, III, of New York, and T. H. Wyche and Conrad O. Pearson, of Durham, N. C. 230