He received a Certificate of Completion from Detroit College of Law (now Michigan State University College of Law) in 1944, and a Juris Doctor from the same institution in 1949. Upon return from army duty, Edwards began his law practice and also returned to the common council and was elected president of the council that year.[1] In 1949, Edwards ran for Mayor of Detroit but lost to Albert Cobo in a racially charged election in which Edwards stood up for equal rights for blacks and the protection of individual civil rights.[2] Edwards continued serving as President of the Detroit Common Council from 1946 to 1950, and was also Chairman of the Detroit Election Commission from 1946 to 1950.[1]
State judicial service
In 1951, Governor G. Mennen Williams appointed Edwards as probate judge of the Wayne County Juvenile Court.[1] In 1954, he was elected to the Wayne County Circuit Court.[1] In 1956, he was appointed to the Michigan Supreme Court to fill a vacancy, and was subsequently elected to this court for two more terms, serving until 1961.[1] Edwards resigned from the Michigan Supreme Court in 1962 when he was appointed Detroit Police commissioner by Mayor Jerome Cavanagh,[1] in hopes that he could help ease the racial troubles in the city.[2]
Edwards wrote Pioneer at Law: A Legacy in Pursuit of Justice, a biography of his father, George C. Edwards, a lawyer and activist on behalf of labor unions, the poor, and African Americans, in Dallas, Texas, during the first half of the 20th century, and an autobiographical account of his own early life; it was published in 1974.[3]
