Dallas County Courthouse renamed for 2 Selma pioneers
SELMA, Ala. (WSFA) – The City of Selma and the Dallas County Commission celebrated the renaming of the Dallas County Courthouse Tuesday. The courthouse outbuilding is now the JL Chestnut Jr. and the Bruce C. Boynton Judicial Building.
A naming ceremony was held on this occasion. While residents celebrated the renaming of the building, it could also be described as a celebration of life for the two who made a huge impact on the future for black lawyers and people of Alabama.
The families, judges, and even former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman talked about the men and called them Selma’s greatest sons.
“Ironically, he wouldn’t want this building to be named after him,” admitted Chestnut’s daughter Gerald Chestnut Riberio. She said he never wanted anything to be named in his honor, “because he worked for the poor people, he said, and he never wanted anything.”
Chestnut was Selma’s first African American lawyer. He fought for the right to vote and pioneered the state’s future black lawyers.
“I felt high, I was so happy, glad,” Betty Boynton explained as her husband’s name was added to the building.
Boynton, also a lawyer, was one of the first students to protest against the racial segregation of travel and restaurants. In doing so, he helped pass the 1964 Public Housing Act.
Boynton learned of the honor “two days before his death,” said his wife. “And five hours before he died it was official and he knew it.”
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