Washington DC c 1902 Judge Mifflin Wistar Gibbs, the first Black judge elected in the United States, poses for a portrait. Angered at the constant limitations Black people were facing in the US, Judge Gibbs passed his bar exam in 1870, and was elected judge in 1873. In addition to his legal achievements, Judge Gibbs was also a successful businessman and newspaper publisher; he, along with three others, started California's first Black newspaper, "Alta California," in 1851. Gibbs was also a lifelong fighter for the rights and freedom of Black people in both Canada and the USA.