Free to Speak the Truth: Honoring Judge Elreta Alexander-Ralston ‘37
In Aggieland, if you just say the name “Elreta” generations know who you are talking about. Those who do not know are always amazed when they learn about her. Elreta Melton Alexander-Ralston (1919–1998) was a barrier breaking African American attorney and jurist who was not only the first African American judge elected in North Carolina but also the first Black woman to be elected a judge from a popular election in the nation.
Her birth and homegoing were both within Women’s History Month, and her story is being retold with emphasis on her connections to North Carolina A&T State University.
A historic moment: Elreta Melton Alexander takes the oath as district judge in Guilford County, becoming the first Black woman to serve as a judge in North Carolina.
Elreta Narcissus Melton was born on March 21, 1919, in Smithfield, North Carolina. She was the youngest of three daughters to teachers Joseph C. & Aline A. Melton. The family moved to Greensboro in 1931 when her father became the pastor of the newly formed United Institutional Baptist Church. Her mother worked as a teacher while continuing her education at Bennett College and A&T College. The Melton’s lived in a house on Beech Street that was just around the corner from the Magnolia Castle the historic home of A&T President James B. and Mrs. Susie B. Dudley. They also lived just two blocks away from George Henry Mitchell (1876-1933), the first Black attorney in Greensboro.
An exceptional child, Elreta graduated from James B. Dudley High School in the class of 1934 at the age of 15. She enrolled at the Agricultural and Technical College of North Carolina that Fall as a music major. While studying music, she performed in recitals and special venues as a soprano soloist under the direction of Ethel B. Wise and Bernard Lee Mason. Elreta was also a member of Gamma Eta Psi, the college women’s glee club. She also performed in plays with the A&T College Dramatic Club and the Richard B. Harrison Players. She pledged to the Alpha Phi chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority while her sister Etta was the basileus.
While studying music, there were seeds of the great legal mind that Elreta would become. In 1936 she presided over a conversation held by student delegate reporting on the National Interracial Conference of the YWCA in the living room of the North Dormitory. Her bachelor’s thesis was titled “The Influence of Politics Upon the Development of the English Novel Up to the Twentieth Century.”
Elreta graduated during the 1937 Summer Convocation where she was a valedictorian. She shared this honor with Virgil Calvin Stroud from the spring commencement. Just 18 years old, Elreta Melton is believed to have been the youngest bachelor’s degree recipient in A&T history up to that time. Only Dr. Lawrence Zollicoffer, M.D. A&T ‘49 who graduated at 17 was younger. A year after graduating she married Girardeau “Tony” Alexander II, a medical student from Meharry College. The couple would have one sone Girardeau III.
April 1979: Judge Elreta Melton Alexander featured in a larger cover clip from A&T Today.
After several years working as a teacher, and as an assistant librarian at A&T, Elreta pursued legal study at the Columbia University Law School. She graduated in 1945 as the first African American woman to earn a law degree from that institution. Elreta worked as a law clerk in New York before returning to North Carolina in 1947. Despite her qualifications, she faced racial barriers that delayed her admission to the North Carolina bar until 1947. She was the first Black woman licensed to practice law in NC and the first to try a case in the NC Supreme Court.
Establishing her practice in Greensboro, North Carolina, Alexander-Ralston built a distinguished legal career over the next two decades. Known for her “formidable” courtroom presence and meticulous preparation, she successfully represented a diverse clientele during the Jim Crow era with both Black and white clients. By 1965 she was also associated with one of the first racially integrated law firms in the South and participated in legal efforts that advanced civil rights, including housing access cases.
On Tuesday, Nov. 5, 1968, Alexander-Ralston achieved national prominence when she was elected to the District Court bench in Guilford County, becoming both the first African American judge in North Carolina and the first Black woman elected judge in the United States. She was elected the same day fellow Attorney Henry E. Frye ‘53 was elected as the first African American in the NC House of Representatives in the 20th century. As friends and colleagues for decades, Justice Frye and Judge Alexander-Ralston shared several highlights in their lives and careers as triumphant “Firsts” for African American in law and politics. During her tenure, she developed innovative approaches to judicial administration, including the “Judgment Day” program, which emphasized rehabilitation for young offenders and anticipated later reforms in juvenile justice.
June 6, 1969: North Carolina A&T President Lewis C. Dowdy with Elreta Melton Alexander in a photograph published by The Future Outlook.
Judge Elreta was a frequent guest and contributor to events at A&T. Her most poignant visit may have been for the spring commencement speaker on June 1, 1969. Judge Elreta brought inspiration to the class who had just endured the notorious Greensboro Uprising only days earlier. In 1977, she shared her wisdom with the student body on curtailing campus crime for a 2-part series in the A&T Register.
Alexander was re-elected multiple times and remained an influential figure in North Carolina’s legal community. In 1974, she sought the position of Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court, a campaign that, although unsuccessful, contributed to reforms requiring that all judges in the state be licensed attorneys. Her run set a precedent for that of Rep. Henry E. Frye ‘53 who became the state’s first African American Chief Justice in 1983.
In 1979, Elreta married John Ralston, a white retired judge from the IRS. The couple were married until John’s death in 1983. Judge Elreta Alexander-Ralston retired from the bench in 1981 and returned to private practice with the firm of Alexander-Ralston, Pell, and Speckhard in Greensboro. Throughout her life, Alexander-Ralston received numerous honors recognizing her leadership and contributions to the legal profession. She died on March 14, 1998, in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Elreta Alexander-Ralston’s groundbreaking achievements, commitment to justice, and her roles in expanding opportunities for women and African Americans in the legal field continue to leave a powerful legacy. Along with Carrie Hill Kelley, Dr. Sandra Carlson-Alexander, Susie B. Dudley, Loreno Morrow, Gladys Royal, Cecille Edwards, Sandra Hughes, Alma Adama, Velma Speight, Shirley Frye, and countless others she is still honored as one of A&T’s greatest women and has been included in tributes from students and alumni.
April 1979: Judge Elreta Melton Alexander featured on the cover of A&T Today.
A special thanks goes to Mrs. Faye Kelly ‘76 and the Golden Class of 1976 whose recollections and research made Judge Elreta the top choice for a Women’s History Month article. The Elreta Alexander-Ralston Papers are held at the Martha Blakeny Hodges Special Collections and University Archives at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Digitized materials from their collections were consulted for this story.
University Archives and Special Collections has copies of the 1948 thesis written by her mother Alian Melton, a copy of her 1967 poetic work “When Is A Man Free?” and multiple materials on Elreta from University Relations, the former A&T Alumni Association and the Justice Henry E. and Shirley T. Frye Collections. It is impossible to do Elreta Melton Alexander-Ralston justice in one article. For more information about this story, women in A&T History, and other topics, please write to libraryarchives@ncat.edu
By: James R. Stewart Jr. ‘08, Archives and Special Collections Librarian.
