Geraldine Sumter Oral History
Geraldine Sumter began her journey to becoming a civil rights attorney in Gadsden, South Carolina. She attended Howard University, where she was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and graduated summa cum laude. After receiving her law degree from Duke University, she clerked for the Honorable Charles L. Becton of the North Carolina Court of Appeals. She joined Ferguson Chambers & Sumter in 1982 and remains there today, focusing on employment work, workers’ compensation, and small business, nonprofit, and other civil rights work such as voting rights and school desegregation. She has also served as a cooperating attorney with LDF. She received the Distinguished Practitioner and Service Award from the North Carolina Bar Association Labor & Employment Law Section and has been recognized by her peers as a Super Lawyer.
HIGHLIGHTED EXCERPT:
Geraldine Sumter reflects on early career influences
CITE THIS ITEM:
Geraldine Sumter interview for the Legal Defense Fund Oral History Project. Interviewed by Melody Hunter-Pillion on May 1, 2025 in Charlotte, North Carolina. Conducted in collaboration with the Southern Oral History Program at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
