Isaac Franklin Bradley (jan 1, 1887 – jan 1, 1928)

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I.F. Bradley was born September 8, 1862, at Hazelwood Hall near Cambridge, Missouri, only two weeks before Abraham Lincoln issued his preliminary Emancipation Proclamation. In 1881, he enrolled in Lincoln Institute (now Lincoln University Jefferson City, Missouri) and graduated in 1885.

He made his way to Lawrence, Kansas and enrolled in the University’s School of Law. Bradley was the only African American in his class, maintaining a very high average of 93.5%, in spite of overt, as well as covert racially-based obstacles. In June 1887, he graduated with honors and a LL.B degree, to become the first African American graduate of the University of Kansas School of Law. (Reasons To Persist, Robinson)

He moved to Kansas City and opened an office at 518 Minnesota Avenue. After just two years in practice, he was elected City Justice of the Peace, Kansas City, Kansas, and served in that position from 1889 to 1891, the first African American elected judge in the city. (Robinson)
In 1894, he was appointed Deputy County Attorney, and in 1895, was appointed Second Assistant to the County Attorney. Three months later, he became the first Assistant Prosecuting Attorney in Wyandotte County, taking an active leading role in local political and civic affairs. In the early 1890’s he along with Dr. S. H. Thompson, established the American Commercial League and Grain Company. I.F. Bradley was one of the partners in the establishment of the Kansas City, Kansas Casket and Embalming Company and the Home Drug Company.

He was an original member of the Afro-American Council of Washington, D.C., in 1898 and served as a Presidential Elector for the Kansas Republican Party in 1900. (Robinson)
In 1905, W.E.B. Dubois, a graduate of Fisk and Harvard Universities, teacher, historian scholar, and one of the most recognized leaders of African Americans in the country, invited twenty-nine men from thirteen states and the District of Columbia to a meeting to discuss and seek solutions to the shameful plight of Blacks in this country. Attorneys I.F. Bradley and B.S. Smith were invited to the meeting, which was held under a tent at Ft. Ontario on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls. This meeting became known as the Niagara Movement and became the forerunner of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). (Ebony Magazine, Robinson)
I.F. Bradley wrote and published three works: The Reign of Reason, The Lion and the Lamb, and The Truth As to Social Equality. In 1928, he became the owner and editor of the Wyandotte Echo newspaper. (Robinson)

An informative video project produced by the Bradley family can be found here: https://youtu.be/BjUdHZOeR4o

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