Law / Auto industry / Politics
Otis M. Smith
1922–1994 · lawyer, Michigan Supreme Court justice, GM general counsel
First African American justice of the Michigan Supreme Court (1961–1966), who then rose to vice president and general counsel of General Motors at its Detroit headquarters.
- Born
Memphis, Tennessee- Died
aged 72- Birth name
- Otis Milton Smith
- Also known as
- Otis Milton Smith
- Detroit years
- 1967–1980s
- Field
- Law, Auto industry, Politics
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Otis Smith, born in Memphis, graduated in 1950 from the law school of the Catholic University of America, where he served on the first volume of its law review, and then practiced law in Flint until 1957. Appointed to the Michigan Public Service Commission, he fought graft so doggedly that he became known as 'the man who shot Santa Claus.' He served as state auditor general from 1959 to 1961, and in 1961 Governor John Swainson appointed him to the Michigan Supreme Court, making him its first African American justice; he won election in 1962 but lost in 1966. General Motors then hired him into its legal staff at the company's Detroit headquarters, and he rose to vice president and general counsel, the first Black lawyer to hold such a post at a major U.S. corporation. He was a presidential elector in 1968, and a scholarship in his name, run by the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan, helps single mothers attend Wayne State and the University of Michigan.
Highlights
- First African American justice of the Michigan Supreme Court (1961–1966)
- Vice president and general counsel of General Motors
- Michigan auditor general, 1959–1961
- Nicknamed 'the man who shot Santa Claus' for fighting graft
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 1
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Worked here · 1967–1980s
General Motors Building (Cadillac Place)
GM's New Center headquarters during his years on its legal staff and as general counsel; now State of Michigan offices.