S.C. Legal and Civil Rights Icon Passes Away

U.S. District Judge Matthew J. Perry, a Columbia native who began his legal career as the first black attorney in Spartanburg, and ended it as an iconic federal judge, died at his home Sunday just a few days shy of his 90th birthday, The State reports.

Perry, who went to work as usual on Friday at the courthouse that now bears his name, apparently died of natural causes Friday evening, the paper reported. His body was discovered by a family member who came by each Sunday to prepare a meal for Perry and his wife Hallie, Richland County coroner Gary Watts told the paper.

As a lawyer, and later as the state's first black federal district court judge, Perry was involved in some of the state's most important cases over the past several decades. A comprehensive look at his amazing life here.