On January 29, 2004, the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit Court dedicated the George E. Edgecomb Courthouse in honor of Hillsborough County’s first African-American judge. The Honorable Judge George E. Edgecomb was invested as a county judge on August 13, 1973. He was also the first African-American Chief Assistant County Solicitor and Hillsborough County’s first African-American Assistant State Attorney.
Judge Edgecomb was a native of West Tampa and graduated from George S. Middleton High School with honors in 1960, where he served as President of the student body. Judge Edgecomb attended Clark College in Atlanta, Georgia, serving as Student Body President during his junior and senior years before graduating in 1964. Thereafter in 1968, Judge Edgecomb earned a law degree from Howard University where he served as Chief Justice of the Sigma Delta Legal Fraternity. He returned to Tampa and began his rise in the legal profession as an associate with Delano S. Stewart, Esquire.
Judge Edgecomb was also a community leader. He was President of the Board of Directors, Greater Tampa Urban League; a Steward at Mt. Sinai A.M.E. Church; Member and Man of the Year, Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc.; and Outstanding Citizen, Frontiers of America. He married his high school sweetheart, Doretha Wynn, and their union produced a daughter, Allison.
Founded in 1982, in memory of the late Honorable George E. Edgecomb, the George Edgecomb Bar Association is dedicated to the promotion and recognition of African Americans within the legal profession and the judiciary. Today, the Association’s 100 members strive to maintain the ideals and principles George E. Edgecomb embodied during his brief but productive life.
Passionate – Dedicated – Professional
Meet the other Visionaries Behind Our Association
The Following are pioneering attorneys and legal professionals who founded GEBA: