James Lawson Bio, Career, Education, Age, Height, Family and Net Worth

This article will answer every question you have about James Lawson. Below are some of the frequently asked questions about him.

  1. What does James Lawson do for a living?
  2. Who are James Lawson’s parents and siblings?
  3. What are James Lawson’s interests and hobbies?
  4. Is James Lawson married or does he have a girlfriend?
  5. Does James Lawson have any children?
  6. Where is James Lawson now?
  7. How tall is James Lawson?
  8. How much money does James Lawson earn?
  9. What is James Lawson’s net worth?

N/B: Please read the entire post to have all your questions answered.

Who is James Lawson?

James Lawson is an American University professor and activist. He is well known for leading the theoretician and tactician of nonviolence within the Civil Rights Movement.

Moreover, in the 1960s, James served as a mentor to the Nashville Student Movement and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. However, he was once expelled from Vanderbilt University for his civil rights activism in 1960. In addition, he has also served as a pastor for about 25 years in Los Angeles.

Career

Civil Rights Movement Leadership

James relocated to Nashville, Tennesse, and joined the Divinity School of Vanderbilt University. At the University, he was working as the southern director for CORE where he started conducting nonviolence training workshops for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in a church basement in 1958.

During his time in Nashville, he met and trained a number of young students at Vanderbilt, Fisk University. In addition, he went and trained other surrounding institutions in nonviolent direct action strategies. While in Nashville, he mentored several future Civil Rights Movement leaders, including Diane Nash, James Bevel, Bernard Lafayette, Marion Barry, and John Lewis.

This trainee together with other James trained activists started the Nashville sit-ins to challenge segregation in downtown stores in 1959 and 1960. However, In 1960, following the lunch sit-in by the student at the Woolworth’s store in Greensboro, North Carolin, James together with other activists were arrested. James’ action led to the desegregation of some lunch counter.

As a result, of his action, he was dismissed from Vanderbilt for his involvement in these acts. Furthermore, James Geddes Stahlman, the publisher of the Nashville Banner and a member of the university’s board of trustees, was also expelled for publishing false news. In addition, another trustee, John Sloan, president of Cain-Sloan, agreed with Stahlman’s proposal to expel him.

Moreover, Chancellor Harvie Branscomb enforced the ruling and refused to apologize until 1980. However, Vanderbilt apologized for their treatment of Lawson during the 2006 commencement ceremony. Lawson was a Vanderbilt University professor from 2006 to 2009, and he contributed his papers in 2013.

A Photo of James Lawson

In addition, his students played the leading at the Open Theater Movement such as Freedom Rides, the Children’s Crusade in Birmingham, the March on Washington, the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, Freedom Summer, the 1965 Selma Voting Rights Movement, the Chicago Freedom Movement, and the Anti-Vietnam War Movement.

James united King and Bevel in a meeting in 1962, where the two of them agreed to work together as one. After that, Bevel was named as SCLC’s Director of the Direct Action and Director of Nonviolent Education.

James also assisted in creating a strategy for the Freedom Riders in 1961.  Furthermore, James encouraged the students to plan a second wave of Freedom Riders from Alabama to continue the work and James also joined the group.

They arrived in Jackson without any problem. However, when they entered a “whites only” waiting area, they were arrested immediately. The NAACP offered to pay for bail, but Lawson and others declined and remained in custody waiting for trial. The judge found all 27 of them guilty and sentenced them to prison. Lawson and the Freedom Riders met with Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, and in September 1961, President John F. Kennedy issued an order that all passengers be able to sit anywhere.

 

How Old Is James Lawson?

He was born on September 22, 1928, he is 92 years old.

James Lawson Family

Who are His Parents?

He was born in Uniontown, Pennsylvania to his parents Philane May Cover and James Morris Lawson Sr. In addition, his father and grandfather were ministers of the Methodist Church.

Does He Have Siblings?

He has 8 Siblings where he is the sixth of nine children in their home.

James Lawson Education

He attended Baldwin Wallace College in Berea, Ohio. While he was still a freshman he studied sociology. However, due to him declining to serve in the US military when drafted he was convicted of draft evasion. After 13 years he came back from prison and finished his studies.

After that, he joined Methodist missionary to Nagpur, India where he studied satyagraha, a form of nonviolent resistance developed by Mohandas Gandhi. After he came back to the US he enrolled at the Graduate School of Theology at Oberlin College in Ohio. He then went to Vanderbilt University where he started teaching nonviolent protest techniques.  He received his S.T.B from Boston University in 1960.

James Lawson Spouse

He is happily married to Dorothy Wood, the two met while they were still in Oberlin College.

James Lawson Kids

The couple has been blessed with three sons, John, Morris, and Seth

Later Career

In 1974, he moved to Los Angeles where he was a pastor of Holman United Methodist Church. However, in 1999, he retired from ministering as a pastor but continued with his civil rights work. Furthermore, when he was still in the Los Angeles, James was an active member in the labor movement called the American Civil Liberties Union and the movement for reproductive choice and gay rights. In addition, James also served as chairman of the Laity United for Economic Justice.

Lawson presented Lawson Live, a weekly call-in radio show during which he explored human- and social-rights concerns. Furthermore, James has continued to teach nonviolent activists and advocates for immigrants’ rights in the United States, Palestinian rights, and workers’ rights to a livable wage. He earned the Community of Christ International Peace Award in 2004.

Moreover, he was also part of the three-day Freedom Ride commemorative program which was sponsored by Vanderbilt University in January 2007. Part of the program included an educational bus journey to Montgomery and Birmingham, Alabama. Moreover, Civil Rights leaders Jim Zwerg, Diane Nash, Bernard Lafayette, C. T. Vivian, and John Seigenthaler were also there, as were journalists. Furthermore, about 180 students, staff, and administrators from Vanderbilt, Fisk, Tennessee State University, and American Baptist College.

For the 2010 and 2011 academic years, Lawson was a visiting faculty member at California State University Northridge. in addition, James was a key figure in the university’s Civil Discourse and Social Change effort. Moreover, he is still a visiting scholar at California State University, Northridge. Nonviolence and Social Movements was inspired by a class he taught at the University of California Los Angeles.

Media

Lawson was portrayed by actor Jesse Williams in the 2013 film The Butler. The video follows Lawson’s training sessions through the 1950s and 1960s civil rights marches. Michael K. Honey’s film Love and Solidarity: Rev. James Lawson and Nonviolence in the Search for Workers Rights included Lawson.

James Lawson Height

His height, weight, and body measurement are not yet known but they will be updated as soon as they are available.

James Lawson Net Worth

His net worth is estimated to be around $4.59million.