{{Short description|American lawyer (1944–2000)}} {{Use American English|date=September 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=September 2025}} {{Infobox person | name = James Winfield | birth_name = James Eros Winfield Sr. | birth_date = March 20, 1944 | birth_place = Port Gibson, Mississippi, U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|2000|06|05|1944|03|20}} | death_place = Rolling Fork, Mississippi, U.S. | burial_place = Greenlawn Gardens Cemetery, Vicksburg, Mississippi, U.S. | education = Morris Brown College (BA),<br /> University of Mississippi School of Law (JD) | spouse = Linda H. Evans | children = 3 }}
'''James Eros Winfield Sr.''' (March 20, 1944 – June 5, 2000) was an American civil rights lawyer, politician, and city prosecutor in Vicksburg, Mississippi.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1978-09-08 |title=Judge Questions Attorney's Role |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/enterprise-journal-james-winfield-iesha/28853848/ |access-date=2025-09-14 |work=Enterprise-Journal |pages=14 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=McBride |first=Earnest |date=February 22, 2022 |title=Vicksburg boycott of 1972 broke back of segregation, hardly remembered today |url=https://jacksonadvocateonline.com/vicksburg-boycott-of-1972-broke-back-of-segregation-hardly-remembered-today/ |access-date=2025-09-14 |website=Jackson Advocate |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Musgrove |first=Ronnie |date=June 7, 2000 |title=A Proclamation by Governor Ronnie Musgrove |url=https://da.mdah.ms.gov/musgrove/pdfs/717.pdf |website=Mississippi Department of Archives and History (MDAH)}}</ref> He was the first Black city prosecutor in Vicksburg.
== Early life and education == James Eros Winfield Sr. was born on March 20, 1944, in Port Gibson, Mississippi.<ref name="Gale-2002">{{Cite book |last=Gale Cengage Learning |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8rXe0X6oX1UC&q=James+Eros+Winfield+1944 |title=Who's Who Among African Americans |date=July 2002 |publisher=Gale Research International, Limited |isbn=978-0-7876-5729-1 |pages=1423 |language=en}}</ref> His parents were Gertrude Moran (née Green) and Elias Winfield.<ref name="Gale-2002" /><ref name="The Vicksburg Post-1974">{{Cite news |date=May 19, 1974 |title=James Winfield Opens Law Office At 1720 Clay St. |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-vicksburg-post-james-winfield-opens/181028992/ |access-date=2025-09-14 |work=The Vicksburg Post |pages=10 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> At the age of 6 his family moved to Vicksburg, Mississippi.<ref name="The Vicksburg Post-1975">{{Cite news |date=May 25, 1975 |title=Winfield Seeks Post In House of Representatives |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-vicksburg-post-winfield-seeks-post-i/181029413/ |access-date=2025-09-14 |work=The Vicksburg Post |pages=21 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> He graduated in 1963 from Rosa A. Temple High School.<ref name="The Clarion-Ledger-2000">{{Cite news |date=June 8, 2000 |title=James E. Winfield Sr. |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/clarion-ledger-obituary-for-james-e-win/181027290/ |access-date=2025-09-14 |work=The Clarion-Ledger |pages=12 |type=Obituary |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref name="Long-2019" />
Winfield attended the Morris Brown College (B.A. 1967) in Atlanta, Georgia; and the University of Mississippi School of Law (J.D. 1972) in Oxford, Mississippi.<ref name="The Clarion-Ledger-2000" /><ref name="The Vicksburg Post-1974" />
During the Vietnam War, Winfield was drafted in to the United States Army in 1969.<ref name="The Clarion-Ledger-2000" /><ref name="The Vicksburg Post-1974" />
He married Linda H. Evans, and together they had three sons.<ref name="The Clarion-Ledger-2000" /><ref name="The Vicksburg Post-1978">{{Cite news |date=December 12, 1978 |title=Winfield To Be Guest Speaker |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-vicksburg-post-winfield-to-be-guest/181029155/ |access-date=2025-09-14 |work=The Vicksburg Post |pages=2 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=July 30, 1983 |title=Springhill Baptist |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-vicksburg-post-springhill-baptist/181029611/ |access-date=2025-09-14 |work=The Vicksburg Post |pages=10 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> His son Paul E. Winfield served as mayor of Vicksburg (2009–2013), and was convicted in 2015 of bribery in a federal court.<ref>{{Cite web |date=April 23, 2010 |title=Mississippi House Concurrent Resolution 62, Regular Session: Bill Title: Honorable Paul E. Winfield; commend upon being elected the 44th Mayor of the City of Vicksburg. |url=https://legiscan.com/MS/text/HC62/id/480631 |access-date=2025-09-14 |website= |language=en |via=LegiScan}}</ref><ref name="Chanprasith-2009">{{Cite news |last=Chanprasith |first=Manivanh |date=July 27, 2009 |title=Wife, mother worked from ground zero |url=https://www.vicksburgpost.com/news/wife-mother-worked-from-ground-zero-475480/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250914043039/https://www.vicksburgpost.com/news/wife-mother-worked-from-ground-zero-475480/ |archive-date=September 14, 2025 |work=The Vicksburg Post}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=January 7, 2015 |title=Southern District of Mississippi: Former Vickburg Mayor Sentenced To Prison For Bribery |url=https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdms/pr/former-vickburg-mayor-sentenced-prison-bribery |access-date=2025-09-14 |website=United States Department of Justice |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Surratt |first=John |date=June 13, 2015 |title=He's out: Former Vicksburg mayor released from Federal prison |url=https://www.vicksburgpost.com/news/hes-out-former-vicksburg-mayor-released-from-federal-prison-522806/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250914205002/https://www.vicksburgpost.com/news/hes-out-former-vicksburg-mayor-released-from-federal-prison-522806/ |archive-date=September 14, 2025 |website=The Vicksburg Post}}</ref>
== Career == After graduating with his J.D. degree, Winfield opened a law practice with R. Jess Brown.<ref name="The Vicksburg Post-1974" /> He was a member of the state bar in Mississippi since 1972, and was admitted to practice law in all state courts.<ref name="The Vicksburg Post-1974" /><ref name="The Vicksburg Post-1978" /><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g45DAQAAIAAJ&q=James+Eros+Winfield+1944 |title=Who's Who in American Law |date=1977 |publisher=Marquis Who's Who. |isbn=978-0-8379-3502-7 |volume=2 |pages=983 |language=en}}</ref>
In 1975, Winfield ran for a post in the House of Representatives for Warren and Claiborne Counties.<ref>{{Cite news |date=July 27, 1975 |title=James E. Winfield Is For The People |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-vicksburg-post-james-e-winfield-is/181029198/ |access-date=2025-09-14 |work=The Vicksburg Post |pages=14 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref name="The Vicksburg Post-1975" />
Winfield was the first African American city prosecutor in Vicksburg when he was appointed to the role in July 1977.<ref name="Long-2019" /><ref name="The Vicksburg Post-1980">{{Cite news |date=October 15, 1980 |title=James Winfield Seeks District Attorney Post |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-vicksburg-post-james-winfield-seeks/181029539/ |access-date=2025-09-14 |work=The Vicksburg Post |pages=5 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> His clients included Vicksburg-Warren School District, the Woodville School District, and the Sharkey County Board of Supervisors.<ref name="Chanprasith-2009" /><ref name="The Vicksburg Post-2000">{{Cite news |date=June 7, 2000 |title=James Eros Winfield Sr. |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-vicksburg-post-james-eros-winfield-s/181028805/ |access-date=2025-09-14 |work=The Vicksburg Post |pages=9 |type=Obituary |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>
In October 1980, Winfield announced candidacy for district attorney in Claiborne, Issaquena, Sharkey and Warren Counties.<ref name="The Vicksburg Post-1980" />
He had co-founded the Winfield and Moran Law Firm in Vicksburg in 1988, and worked alongside his brother.<ref name="The Vicksburg Post-2000" />
Winfield was a former president of the National Alumni Association and the Board of Trustees of Morris Brown College, his alma mater.<ref name="The Clarion-Ledger-2000" /><ref name="The Vicksburg Post-2000" /> He was a member of the NAACP, the Phi Beta Sigma, the Tyner–Ford Post No. 213 of the American Legion, the D.W. Simmons Brotherhood Relief Club, the Mississippi Trial Lawyer Association, and Lamar Order of the University of Mississippi School of Law.<ref name="The Clarion-Ledger-2000" />
== Death and legacy == He died at age 56 in a car accident on June 5, 2000, in Rolling Fork, Mississippi.<ref name="The Clarion-Ledger-2000" /><ref name="The Vicksburg Post-2000" />
A monument at Washington Street Park in Vicksburg is dedicated to him and four other civic leaders.<ref name="Long-2019">{{Cite news |last=Long |first=Alex |date=August 16, 2019 |title=City dedicates Washington Street Park to Vicksburg trailblazers |url=https://vicksburgnews.com/city-dedicates-washington-street-park-to-vicksburg-trailblazers/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250708232200/https://vicksburgnews.com/city-dedicates-washington-street-park-to-vicksburg-trailblazers/ |archive-date=July 8, 2025 |work=Vicksburg Daily News}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}} {{Civil rights movement}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Winfield, James E.}} Category:1944 births Category:2000 deaths Category:20th-century African-American lawyers Category:20th-century American lawyers Category:American civil rights lawyers Category:American prosecutors Category:Morris Brown College alumni Category:People from Port Gibson, Mississippi Category:People from Vicksburg, Mississippi Category:Road incident deaths in Mississippi Category:University of Mississippi School of Law alumni