Washington cathedral's first black head usher resigns

Jet, March 7, 1994

Atty. Derrick Humphries has announced his retirement as head usher of the Washington National Cathedral.

For the past decade, the Washington lawyer has been "the best connected lawyer in the nation's capital." But he didn't collect a dime for his services.

Why? As the first Black head usher at the Washington National Cathedral - the sixth largest in the world - his valuable time has been spent greeting and conversing with not only U.S. presidents, Cabinet members, corporate heads and members of Congress, but with leaders from countries throughout the world.

And he has been involved in arranging funerals of some of the country's greatest leaders, including the late Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall.

When services were held for Justice Marshall, more than 5,000 mourners attended, there was vast VIP assemblage which demanded tight security despite the fact the Marshall family wanted the service open to the public with as few reserved seats as possible. Humphries was the church aide who defied the Secret Service to allow JET photographer Maurice Sorrell to take photographs within the Cathedral.

"A terrific breakthrough and a sad farewell," commented the Wayne State University Law School graduate. "But I must step down to devote more time to my law practice and young family," concluded the father of four children.