Theodore McMillian (January 28, 1919 – January 18, 2006) was the first African American to serve on the Missouri Court of Appeals, and the first African American to serve as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.
Theodore McMillian
Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals
Born 1919 in St. Louis, MO
Died 2006 in St. Louis, MO
FJC ID: 1587
Career output and lasting influence
Opinions attributed per year · peak 28/year
Later decisions citing those opinions, per year · peak 372/year
Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals · 1978–2006
Both charts share the same year axis. Opinion counts include only opinions in our corpus attributed to this judge so far — a year at zero can mean an attribution gap, not judicial silence. Influence typically outlasts the career: citations keep climbing after the last opinion.
- Gender
- Male
- Race
- African American
Prior employment
- University of Missouri, St. LouisAssociate professor · 1970–present
- National College of Juvenile Justice, University of NevadaFaculty · 1972–present
- Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern DivisionJudge · 1972–1978
- Webster College Graduate ProgramAssociate professor · 1977
- Circuit Court of Missouri, St. Louis CircuitJudge · 1956–1972
- St. Louis, MissouriAssistant circuit attorney · 1953–1956
- Private practice, St. Louis, Missouri1949–1953
U.S. Army1942–1946
Appointments
1978–2006 · Appointed by Jimmy Carter (Democratic)Term ended: Death
Education
- St. Louis University School of LawLL.B. · 1949
- Lincoln University, MissouriB.S. · 1941