The colored lawyer, perhaps more strongly than the representatives
of any other profession, feels the pressure of white competition.
Not only have his people always been accustomed to white lawyers,
but he must practice in courts where all the officers, including
the jury are white. So when one finds a young colored lawyer
steadily rising in his profession, it may be taken for granted that
he is well equipped and has the confidence of his community. One
such man is Julius Henderson Love, of Montgomery, W. Va. Mr. Love
is a native of the sister State of Maryland, having been born at
Waterbury in that State on May 10, 1885. His father, Rev. Julius C.
Love, is a veteran minister in the M. E. church and a son of
Henderson Love. The mother of our subject was before her marriage,
Miss Susie Carr, daughter of Mary and Shadrack Carr. As his father
was in the itinerancy, young Love became a sort of peripatetic
student so far as his public school training was concerned. He went
to Morgan College, Baltimore for his preparatory and college work.
The preparatory course he finished in 1904 and after ward spent
three years in the college proper. He matriculated at Howard
University in 1907 and won his A.B. degree in 1910 and his LL.B.
degree in 1912. Like so many of the successful men of the race he
found it necessary to make his own way in school. Fortunately he
had the advantages which go with a Christian home with parents
ambitious for him. The way was by no means easy, but he refused to
be discouraged and won by close application and hard work.
In 1914 he was admitted to the bar and began the practice of law
at Williamson, where he remained for two years. He then moved to
Montgomery, where he has since resided and where he is steadily
building up an excellent practice.
On November 9, 1918, he was married to Miss Marion Higgs, of
Raleigh, N. C. Mrs. Love was educated at St. Augustine, Raleigh and
at Howard University and was before her marriage an accomplished
teacher. Mrs. Love holds the A.B. degree with cum laude from Howard
University. She is active in the Colored women's work of West
Virginia and is at present Corresponding Secretary of the Colored
Women's State Federation. Mr. Love gives her due credit for being a
help and inspiration to him in his work and together they share the
honors which come from work well done.
In politics Mr. Love is a Republican and has been more or less
active in the councils of his party. In August, 1922, he was
nominated by his party as a candidate for the state legislature. In
religion he is a Methodist. He belongs to the Masons and is a
member of the Negro Bar Association of West Virginia. He also
belongs to the Omega Psi Phi Greek Letter Fraternity. He believes
the next important forward step for the race should be along the
line of commercial and industrial development so as to bring those
departments of life upon a level with the professional development
of the race. Strong in body, keen intellectually, well equipped for
his life work, a splendid practice already built up, Mr. Love faces
the future with confidence.
