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Henry Bramwell ’48 (1919–2010)
Bramwell, the first African American appointed to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, served on the federal bench from 1974 until assuming senior status in 1987. Born in New York City in 1919, he served in the U.S. Army from 1941 to 1945 and graduated from Brooklyn Law School in 1948. Before his federal appointment, Bramwell worked as Housing and Rent Commissioner under Mayor Robert F. Wagner Jr., served as counsel to the New York State Division of Human Rights, and was appointed to the New York City Civil Court in 1966. He was nominated to the federal bench by President Jimmy Carter after receiving bipartisan support from New York’s congressional delegation. As the first Black judge to serve on the Eastern District of New York, Bramwell’s tenure was later recognized as a milestone in the court’s 150-year history.