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Biography · Education & Scholarship

J. R. Clifford

1848–1933

United States

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Biography

J. R. Clifford (September 13, 1848 – October 6, 1933) was West Virginia's first African-American attorney. Clifford was also a newspaper publisher, editor and writer, school teacher, and principal. He was a Civil War veteran, grandfather, as well as a civil rights pioneer and founding member of the Niagara Movement (forerunner to the NAACP).

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Biography text · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source checked 2026-10-13

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