Born in Richmond, Virginia, George Hayes received a Bachelor's degree from Brown University and in 1918 a law degree from Howard University. Starting in 1924, he taught at Howard while in private practice in Washington, D.C. He became a member of a group of Howard lawyers who fought racial discrimination. He is most famous for his position as lead council on Bolling v. Sharpe, which was a companion case to Brown v. Topeka Board of Education. He argued that denying black students the right to attend non-segregated schools violated the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment. President Eisenhower appointed Hayes Public Utilities Officer for Washington, D.C., which made him the highest-ranking African American in the city government in 1955.

Sources:
Brown @ 50. Howard University School of Law. 2004. <http://www.brownat50.org/BrownBios/BioGeorgeECHayes.html>. 18 February, 2005.

"George E.C. Hayes Papers, 1922-1956." Special Collections Register. Historical Society of Washington D.C.Gail Redmann. 7 August, 1997. <http://www.citymuseumdc.org/Do_Reasearch/Research_Collections/ms506.pdf>. 18 February, 2005.