Archibald James Carey Jr. was an American lawyer, judge, politician, diplomat, and clergyman from the South Side of Chicago. He was elected as a city alderman and served for eight years under the patronage of the politician William L. Dawson. He served for several years as a pastor in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, when he became known as a civil rights activist. In 1957, he was appointed by President Dwight Eisenhower as chair of his committee on government employment policy, which worked to reduce racial discrimination. Appointed to the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, in 1966, Judge Carey became a major figure in Chicago's political life, serving until 1979. He won numerous awards for his oratorical skills and contributions to civic improvement.
After being accepted to the bar, Carey set up a practice in Chicago. He became politically active and allied with William L. Dawson, a leading African-American politician on the city's South Side. Carey was twice elected to serve as an alderman from Chicago's Third Ward, serving from 1947 to 1955. During this time, he was chosen to give a speech to the 1952 Republican National Convention, which met that year in Chicago, and called for equal rights for all minorities. The following year, Carey was appointed as an alternate delegate from the United States to the United Nations, serving from 1953 to 1956. From 1955 to 1961, he served on the President's Committee on Government Employment Policy; on August 3, 1957, he was appointed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower as Chair of the committee, succeeding Maxwell Abbell, who died. Carey was the first African American to hold this position. Already a confidante of Martin Luther King Jr. and active in the national civil rights movement, Carey worked to end employment discrimination in the government against blacks. Carey was appointed as a county Circuit Court judge in Chicago in 1966. He served until 1978, when he was forced by law to retire from the bench at 70 years of age. Because of the court's large caseload, he was reappointed to serve another year.
AME Church
In 1949, Carey was named as pastor of his father's church, Quinn Chapel AME Church in Chicago. He served through 1967, when he was named pastor emeritus. In 1960 Carey addressed the World Methodist Council held in Oslo, Norway that year, discussing how AME activists in the United States drew from Wesleyan theology and praxis in their approach. He noted that they were inspired by the work of Richard Allen, the founder and first bishop of the AME Church. He was among numerous AME clergy and members who were active in the civil rights movement, but the institution as a whole at the time did not strongly embrace activism.
Family
Archibald J. Carey Jr. was married to Hazel Harper. They had a daughter, Carolyn Eloise. Grandchildren: Renee, Jennifer, Nicole, William, Archibald James, Christopher. He died on April 20, 1981, in Chicago.
"Let Freedom Ring"
Carey gave a speech at the 1952 Republican National Convention, titled "Let Freedom Ring". The historian Drew D. Hansen notes that some critics suggest that Martin Luther King Jr. plagiarized from this speech in creating his own celebrated "I Have a Dream" speech, while others disagree, noting that many of the motifs and tropes were part of a common language.
