By Jordan Meadows
Staff Writer
James "Fergie" Ferguson, a civil rights attorney and native of Asheville, North Carolina, passed away on July 21, 2025, at the age of 82.
Born in 1942 in the Jim Crow South, Ferguson became a figure in the struggle for educational equity, civil rights, and legal reform in the United States and abroad.
Ferguson began his activism early, leading the Asheville Student Committee on Racial Equality (ASCORE) while still a student at Stephens-Lee High School. After earning a law degree from Columbia University in 1967, he co-founded North Carolina's first interracial law firm with Julius Chambers, James Lanning, and Adam Stein.
His most influential work came in the landmark Supreme Court case Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education (1971), which mandated the use of busing to desegregate schools. The ruling transformed Charlotte into a national model for integration and significantly expanded educational opportunities for African American students.
Ferguson also helped secure justice for the Wilmington 10, co-founded South Africa’s first Trial Advocacy Program during apartheid, and taught law at Harvard and North Carolina Central University. In his later years, he returned to Asheville to represent victims of police brutality, continuing his lifelong commitment to civil rights.
Honored with numerous accolades, including North Carolina’s highest civilian honor—the Order of the Long Leaf Pine—Ferguson is remembered not only for his legal brilliance but for his efforts towards justice and change. His legacy lives on in the classrooms, courtrooms, and communities he helped transform.
