Interview with James M. Lawson, March 17, 1964

Interview Summary

James M. Lawson (1928- ) was a longtime peace activist and served as a tutor on non-violence to civil rights leaders. Lawson began his work in Nashville, Tennessee where he trained citizens on non-violent tactics to use in sit-ins at downtown Nashville lunch counters. Lawson was one of the founders of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), he was an organizer of the Freedom Rides in 1961, and was chair of the Strategy Committee for the Memphis Sanitation Strike during which Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated. Lawson later protested the Cold War and the war in Vietnam. In this interview James M. Lawson describes his involvement with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and his organization of the sit-ins in Nashville. He discusses how his involvement with the sit-ins resulted in his expulsion from the Vanderbilt University Divinity School and the support he received from the Vanderbilt University faculty. Lawson describes the influence of the police on mob violence during civil rights demonstrations and how civil rights workers protect themselves against the threat of violence. Lawson discusses how his belief in nonviolence has been influenced by Gandhi's teachings and describes a connection between non-violence and Christianity.

Interview Keyword

Who Speaks for the Negro? (Book)

Interview LC Subject

African American leadership African Americans--Civil rights Civil rights demonstrations Civil rights demonstrations--Tennessee--Nashville Civil rights leaders--United States Civil rights movements--United States Civil rights workers Civil rights--Tennessee--Memphis Civil rights--Tennessee--Nashville Clark, Kenneth Bancroft, 1914-2005 Evers, Charles, 1922- King, Martin Luther, Jr., 1929-1968 Lawson, James M., 1928- Lawson, James M., 1928- --Interviews National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Nonviolence Nonviolence--Philosophy Race relations Southern Christian Leadership Conference Vanderbilt University

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Interview Usage

Interviews may be reproduced with permission from Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, Special Collections, University of Kentucky Libraries.