The North Carolina Association of Black Lawyers proudly honors the extraordinary life and enduring legacy of Mickey Michaux, one of North Carolina’s most influential civil rights leaders, legal pioneers, and public servants.
Born Henry McKinley Mickey Michaux Jr. on September 4, 1930, in Durham, North Carolina, Mickey Michaux’s life reflects more than seven decades of unwavering commitment to justice, equity, and public service. After serving in the United States Army Medical Corps and the Army Reserves, he pursued his education at North Carolina Central University, earning both a Bachelor of Science degree and a Juris Doctor. These milestones laid the foundation for a career defined by service, advocacy, and leadership.
Attorney Michaux became actively involved in the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s, forging lifelong relationships with movement leaders and embracing the law as a tool for meaningful social change. At the encouragement of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., he entered public service and was first elected to the North Carolina House of Representatives in 1972. Over the course of more than four decades, he became the longest-serving member of the North Carolina General Assembly, shaping state policy on education, economic justice, and civil rights.
In 1977, Attorney Michaux made history when President Jimmy Carter appointed him United States Attorney for the Middle District of North Carolina. He was the first African American to serve as a United States Attorney in the South since Reconstruction. His tenure reflected a steadfast commitment to fairness, integrity, and equal justice under the law.
Throughout his legislative career, Michaux held key leadership roles, including senior chairman of the House Appropriations Committee and chair of the House Select Committee on Street Gang Prevention. Even in later years, his dedication to public service remained strong. In 2020, at the age of eighty nine, he was appointed to serve in the North Carolina Senate, further demonstrating his lifelong commitment to the people of this state.
Attorney Michaux’s impact has been widely recognized through numerous awards and honors. He was inducted into North Carolina Central University’s Alex M. Rivera Athletics Hall of Fame in 1988 and received the Shepard Medallion from North Carolina Central University in 2010. In 2011, he was inducted into the National Black College Alumni Hall of Fame. His commitment to constitutional principles was recognized with the John McNeill Smith Jr. Constitutional Rights and Responsibilities Section Award from the North Carolina Bar Association in 2019, followed by the
Distinguished Service Award from the Cook Society at Duke University in 2020. In 2022, he received the North Carolina Award for Public Service, the highest civilian honor bestowed by the State of North Carolina, and in 2023 he was honored during Black History Month by the North Carolina African American Heritage Commission. In recognition of his enduring legacy, the North Carolina Central University School of Education dedicated the H. M. Michaux Jr. School of Education Building in his honor in 2007.
Mickey Michaux’s legacy is measured not only by the offices he held or the cases he litigated, but by the generations of lawyers he inspired to lead with courage, purpose, and principle. His life reminds us that progress requires vigilance, advocacy, and collective action.
The North Carolina Association of Black Lawyers proudly honors Attorney Mickey Michaux and his enduring impact on the legal profession, public service, and the ongoing pursuit of justice.
