Philip Watson papers

1922-1936

African-American attorney who practiced law in Harlem and later served as an assistant attorney general for the State of New York, Philip Watson was a member of the Alpha Chapter of the Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity and the Golden Fleece Lodge 7887 in Manhattan. The Philip Watson Papers consists of letters (1929-1931) primarily from Elise Johnson prior to her marriage to Watson, and legal papers. Included is a completed questionnaire for his admission to the New York State Bar in 1932 and several affidavits in support of the application. The questionnaire provides biographical information about Watson such as schools attended and his employment record. Of interest is a legal brief for a case Watson argued regarding the refusal of the owner of a bathhouse at Playland in Rye, New York to admit a black person in 1935. The collection also contains an agreement settling a lawsuit between a local chapter and the national Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, with Watson as the attorney for one of the defendants, his membership certificate for the Alpha Chapter, and a handbook of the constitution and by-laws of the Golden Fleece Lodge.