The career of a professional institution: A study of Norris, Schmidt, Green, Harris, Higginbotham, and Associates.

Format:

Book

Thesis/Dissertation

Author/Creator:

Porter, Aaron Curtis.

Contributor:

Anderson, Elijah, advisor.

University of Pennsylvania.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Sociology.

History.

Law.

Black people--Research.

Black people.

0325.

0398.

0578.

0626.

Penn dissertations--Sociology.

Sociology--Penn dissertations.

Local Subjects:

Penn dissertations--Sociology.

Sociology--Penn dissertations.

0325.

0398.

0578.

0626.

Physical Description:

313 pages

Contained In:

Dissertation Abstracts International 54-03A.

System Details:

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

text file

Summary:

This case-study provides a sociological analysis of the development of a Philadelphia professional institution during its 1952 to 1976 history with antecedents in earlier periods. Through a review of the professions and race relations literature, I examine how larger social and political forces at play affected the early careers of African American lawyers and the emergence of an institution. I provide a theoretical and graphic understanding of the rise, consolidation, and social-changing nature of the law firm. How does a black professional institution emerge? How does a study of the institution provide insight into race relations and changes in American social structure? This study explores the race strategy for equality developed by the firm's senior partner in the context of the career of the institution. Studying Austin Norris and the law firm is sociologically important. An analysis of Norris is not to call attention to him, but to the strategies he used to advance as a black professional in a racial caste society. In studying the social and professional conditions in which black lawyers like Norris had to operate during a black nationalist and civil rights era, we are learning about the building of this institution before 1952 and race relations in a larger societal context as this phenomena contributed to the development of the firm which helped to facilitate the careers of its members. This work shows how the firm contributed to minority civil rights in Philadelphia. It reconstructs the history and major events of the law practice through empirical research including analysis of newspaper articles, legal cases, and intensive interviews of law partners, associates, and significant others. The unique feature of the law practice is that it became a model for building black service institutions and organizations within the context of Houstonian jurisprudence and Washingtonian and DuBoisian perspectives. How the unravelling of the institution affected the black and legal community is a major contribution to the study of complex organizations with policy implications.

Notes:

Thesis (Ph.D. in Sociology) -- Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, University of Pennsylvania, 1993.

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 54-03, Section: A, page: 1100.

Supervisor: Elijah Anderson.

Local Notes:

School code: 0175.

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.