NASHVILLE, Tenn (WTVF) — Before there were high schools or research institutes named after him, Reverend James Lawson was a transfer college student here in Nashville working change history in Nashville for the better and that started with the Nashville sit-ins.
“A nonviolent way is a way how the power of compassion and truth can shape every community, every congregation, every union, every political group,” said Lawson during Nashville’s John Lewis dedication in 2021.
Nonviolence was always the answer for Rev. James Lawson. It's what he practiced and it's what he preached all the way to the end.
“Lawson was our architect in nonviolent protest and Dr. King said this was the best organized all of the student movements this one here in Nashville,” said professor Learotha Williams.
Williams teaches African American and Public History at Tennessee State University.
He says Lawson’s impact on the civil rights movement was monumental.
Lawson died on Sunday at the age of 95.
“I reflected his life, his life, his town, his time here, and how many people he impacted,” Williams said.
Lawson arrived at Vanderbilt Divinity School in 1958 as a 30-year-old transfer student from Oberlin School of Theology in Ohio.
Lawson came to Nashville as staff organizer for the peace-oriented Fellowship of Reconciliation, as well as a divinity student. He also served as the southern director for the Congress of Racial Equality and conducted workshops in nonviolence techniques for students from Tennessee State University, Fisk University and Vanderbilt.
The technique quickly proved its power at lunch counters and movie theaters in Nashville, where on May 10, 1960, businesses agreed to take down the "No Colored" signs that enforced white supremacy.
“To put their lives on the line for a cause and these are not 30, 40, years old. These are 18, 19, 30, 21-year-old's that he is inspired to do things that would change America,” Williams said.
His work as a staff organizer for the Fellowship of Reconciliation alarmed members of Vanderbilt’s Board of Trust, and for his activism, Lawson was expelled from Vanderbilt in 1960.
But it never put a pause on his mission for civil rights.
After Lawson was expelled from Vanderbilt he said he never harbored hard feelings about the university.
He returned as a distinguished visiting professor in 2006, and eventually donated a significant portion of his papers.
It's truly the small things that add up to a great day - and Warrick in Lebanon is having a big impact. His familiar face is becoming a staple in one part of the community and inspiring closer connection in the simplest way. Enjoy his warm personality! You may even feel inclined to wave to a stranger today, too.
-Rebecca Schleicher
