The Black lawyer history forgot 

“Memories light the corners of my mind. Misty, water-colored memories of the way we were….” “The Way We Were,” Barbra Streisand

For many decades, I have been drawn to the life story of an important figure in Dallas African American history that the general public has largely been deprived of knowing. His name is attorney Joseph Edwin Wiley Sr., founder of the African American community known as Mill City and the historic Black-owned cotton mill he created in the South Dallas/Fair Park community.

Who would have thought that a living, spunky 105-year-old, Pearl Etta McVey-Guthrie, would allow me to more deeply explore Wiley’s life during her recent birthday celebration in Dallas? I had the opportunity to read McVey-Guthrie’s unpublished memoir, “Mill City: Turning Back the Hands of Time,” which mentions Wiley and describes early 1900s life in the community he created.

McVey-Guthrie was born and raised in Mill City near Fair Park but now lives in Oak Cliff. Her family and friends organized a drive-by birthday celebration on Feb. 21, 2026, exactly 105 years after her birth in that historic community. A friend had the manuscript and its many photographs printed and bound, and the author hopes to find a publisher soon.

That historically Black community no longer exists as it once did. The area is now undergoing extensive revitalization led by nonprofit groups, and two streets pay tribute to its history, Joseph Wiley Street and Mill Place.

McVey-Guthrie was one of three children who grew up on Frank Street near Fair Park. She was inspired to write her memoir after a young relative asked about her youth in the community. When she went to the library seeking answers, she found almost nothing. So she began writing down her own memories in her 80s.

Relatives and friends recall her as a community anchor, known for her sharp mind and boundless energy. She taught counting and the alphabet to preschoolers, served as a teacher’s aide, took on sewing projects and organized travel excursions and school reunions for classmates.

Her daughter, Patricia Smith, 83, said her mother still communicates well despite greatly diminished hearing. Relatives write notes, which she reads and quickly answers. “She said so many people did not know about Mill City,” Smith said. “It seemed you could find something about every other place in Dallas but not Mill City.”

Joseph E. Wiley Sr. moved to Dallas in 1885 after graduating from Union College of Law in Chicago, now Northwestern University School of Law. He is recognized as the first formally educated African American lawyer in Texas, and is best remembered for founding Mill City and the New Century Cotton Mill, created deliberately to advance African American economic achievement in Dallas.

Wiley also mentored and became law partners with John L. Turner Sr., the now-legendary attorney for whom the historic J.L. Turner Legal Association in Dallas is named. Turner’s fame has endured. Wiley’s has not.

Born in Albany, Ohio, in 1862, a year before the Emancipation Proclamation, Wiley attended Oberlin College before law school. Beyond his legal practice, he was a real estate investor, notary and editor of the little-known Dallas Enterprise newspaper.

Black workers built the cotton mill, and all mill workers were Black, though prominent Anglo investors contributed money and business advice. Most notably, Wiley collaborated with Booker T. Washington of Tuskegee University, who contributed financially to the effort.

Wiley also made history by helping create the 1901 Dallas Colored Fair at the South Dallas/Fair Park fairgrounds, serving as a key player in the Fair’s “Colored People’s Day,” the one day African Americans were permitted to attend the State Fair of Texas in those early years.

The mill opened in 1902, struggled financially for several years and closed in 1907. The Wiley family eventually left Dallas. There are no known photographs of him, and his date of death is unknown.

McVey-Guthrie is aware of ongoing revitalization efforts by groups including The Real Estate Council’s Catalyst Project, Urban Specialists, Builders of Hope Community Development Corp. and the Mill City Community Association. She applauds every effort.

“I’ve never thought about my death, even though my mother died at age 45,” she said. “I’ve always had my hands in something, whether it’s a cruise, crossword puzzle or serving. I don’t know for sure why God has spared me. But I’m sure glad He did.”

In honor of her absent hero, Joseph Edwin Wiley Sr., I urge us all to learn more about his service and his deep yearning for a better life for our people. For all that he accomplished, this forgotten man deserves to be remembered.

Norma Adams-Wade is a Texas Metro News senior correspondent, a retired Dallas Morning News writer and a National Association of Black Journalists founder.