Bruce M. Wright

Bruce McMarion Wright (born Marion Bruce Wright, December 19, 1917 – March 24, 2005) was an American jurist who served on the New York State Supreme Court. Judge Wright was also the father of Geoffrey D.S. Wright, a New York State Supreme Court Justice, and Keith L.T. Wright, a member of the New York State Assembly.

Wright was born in Baltimore, Maryland, raised in Princeton, New Jersey, and spent his the majority of his adult life living in Harlem, New York.

In 1939, Wright was awarded a scholarship to attend Princeton University, but denied admission when he arrived and the university learned that he was black. Wright was denied admission to Notre Dame on the same grounds. He studied at Virginia State University, and graduated from Lincoln University in 1942.

Wright then served in a U.S. Army segregated medical unit during World War II. He volunteered for combat duty, and was assigned to Company K, 16th Infantry Regiment. After the war, he went AWOL, making his way to Paris, where he was befriended by Senegalese poet Leopold Senghor, who later became his country's first president.

Wright’s early ambition was to become a poet and was introduced and later became a friend of Langston Hughes. Wright's first book of poetry, "From the Shaken Tower," was edited by Hughes and published in 1944. He studied at Fordham University Law School, and obtained his law degree from New York Law School.

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