Browse Collections (9 total)

Born in 1918, Nathaniel Colley grew up in Snow Hill, Alabama. He met Sacramento-raised Jerlean Jackson while they were attending Tuskegee Institute,…

As a child, Colley did not excel at physical activities as his allergies made being outdoors difficult. Instead, he shined academically and earned his…

Colley arrived in Sacramento in 1948 with a Yale law degree, but faced discriminatory hiring policies that made it difficult to find a job. His first…

In the early 1950s, Nathaniel and Jerlean opened a private law practice in Sacramento. At the time, Colley was the city’s only African American…

As a professional and community leader, Colley used all resources available to him, including politics. In 1956, Colley campaigned for the California…

Colley believed education was the key to social mobility and equality, and focused much of his effort on fighting discrimination in public schools. In…

In addition to his legal career, Colley was a member, and leader, of many organizations at the local, state, and national levels. Most notably, he…

To many, Nathaniel Colley was known as “Mr. Civil Rights of California.” Whether doing so as an attorney, State-appointed official, NAACP…

For Nathaniel and Jerlean, life was not all work without any play. The Colleys were avid horse racing fans. In addition to their home in Sacramento’s…