All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #071 for February 2025 - complete

Judge Lynwood Blount became a lawyer by going to night school and rose to be a judge in the Philadelphia criminal justice system. His manner and authoritative presence earned him the nickname “Count Blount.”

Florence DeVida Johnson-Reid came through the ranks to become Dean of Graduate Education and Continuing Education at Cheyney University, but her life was tragically cut short by cancer.

Judge Doris May Harris was only the third Black woman to graduate from Penn Law and became one of the most popular – and controversial – juvenile court judges in the city.

Jack Jones was a devout Roman Catholic from West Philadelphia who wanted to grow up to be famed announcer John Facenda. With Facenda’s help, Jones got an early start in a career in broadcast news that ended with him being the first Black anchorperson on local news. He too died tragically young from cancer.

These four, plus information about the legal system in Philadelphia, the education of African American children in Philadelphia since the 1830s, the evolution of Black lawyers in Philadelphia, and the city's Black Roman Catholic population.