Horace Taliaferro Ward (1927-2016) was born in LaGrange, Georgia. As a very young child he lived with his grandparents, Isaiah and Emma Ward, while his mother, Minnie (Ward) Harrison (1914-2012) lived and worked away from home. In 1933, Minnie Ward married Richard Harrison (1903-1995) at which time Horace Ward was raised by his mother and stepfather. Ward graduated from East Depot Street High School as valedictorian in 1946. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Morehouse College in 1949 and a Master of Arts degree from Atlanta University in 1950.

In 1950, Ward was the first Black person to formally seek admission to the University of Georgia School of Law. The University denied his admission and offered out-of-state tuition aid as was the practice of the time of racially segregated colleges and universities. Ward filed a lawsuit against the University claiming that his admission denial was based on his race. The case was delayed due to Ward’s military service and eventually dismissed in 1957. During this time, Ward taught at Arkansas Agricultural, Mechanical & Normal College from 1950-1951 and The Alabama State College for Negroes (later The Alabama State College) from 1951-1953 and 1955-1956. He also served in the United States Army from 1953-1955, including one year of service in Korea. Ward was admitted to Northwestern University School of Law in Evanston, Illinois, and graduated with a Juris Doctor Degree in 1959.

Horace Ward married Ruth (LeFlore) Ward (1926-1976) of Mobile, Alabama, in 1956. Ruth Ward graduated from Saint Augustine’s College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1945 and Atlanta University with a Master of Science in Library Science in 1963. She had one son prior to marrying Horace Ward, Theodore Johnson Ward (1948-1988), whom he adopted. She worked for the Atlanta Board of Education as a teacher and librarian. Ruth LeFlore Ward was murdered in 1976.

Ward returned to Georgia to practice law with the firm Hollowell, Ward, Moore & Alexander from 1960-1974. In 1961, Ward and his colleagues litigated to desegregate the University of Georgia when Hamilton Holmes and Charlene Hunter were admitted as the first Black students. Ward served as a Deputy City Attorney of Atlanta, an Assistant Fulton County Attorney, and as Georgia’s second African American state senator since the Reconstruction Period. Governor Jimmy Carter appointed Ward to the Civil Court of Fulton County in 1974, and Governor George Busbee elevated him to the Superior Court of Fulton County in 1977. President Jimmy Carter appointed Ward to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia in 1979. Horace Ward was Georgia’s first African American trial court judge and federal court judge. Ward served as an active United States District Court judge until 1994 when he took senior status as a Senior United States District Court judge. Judge Ward retired in 2012.