Louis R. Harper Jr., the Baltimore City Fire Department’s first African-American captain, whose landmark 1971 lawsuit forced the city to end discriminatory practices in the hiring and promotion of firefighters and police, died Dec. 8 of symptoms related to dementia in hospice at FutureCare Cherrywood in Reisterstown.
The West Baltimore native was 89. Captain Harper, a founding member of the Vulcan Blazers Inc., a fraternal organization for black firefighters and paramedics, retired in 1981 after a “lengthy and fruitful tenure” of 25 years, the Fire Department said in a memorial post on social media. "He was instrumental in paving the way for minorities both in the Fire and Police Departments and helped change the hiring and promotional process for African Americans in Baltimore City,” the Fire Department statement said.