The proposed Cummings courthouse is across Calvert Street from the Clarence M. Mitchell Jr. courthouse, which in 1985 was named after Mitchell, who was head of the NAACP’s Washington office and was one of President Lyndon Johnson’s chief advisers during the civil rights movement. Mitchell was also the brother of the late Parren J. Mitchell, the first African American elected to Congress from Maryland. Parren Mitchell, a Democrat, represented the 7th District seat in Congress, the seat Cummings later held for 23 years until his death.