Attorney Reuben Lawson was a pivotal figure during the Civil Rights period, serving as a decisive legal advocate in Virginia with a deep fervor for ensuring racial equality.
The Danville native earned his law degree at Howard University in 1945, working alongside Oliver Hill, an African American attorney and civil rights titan who was the lead attorney for the Virginia State Conference of the NAACP. Hill also was at the forefront in Davis v. County School Board of Prince Edward, one of five cases that were consolidated into the Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas in 1954.
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Not long after graduating, Lawson moved to the Star City, where he founded a law practice. He built the two-story, brick Lawson Building in 1952.
Adamant about being a driving force for change, he was incredibly involved within the community. He served as the Roanoke NAACP in the early 1950s, as the vice president of the Roanoke Civic League, was a mentor to many and was known for giving education talks at places like the Gainsboro Branch of the Roanoke City Public Library.
Additionally, Lawson was a trailblazer in Virginia’s civil rights landscape, arguing the case Ingram v. Virginia in 1946, which addressed the systemic exclusion of African Americans as jurors in Virginia cases.
He also worked as a lawyer for the NAACP, fighting numerous school desegregation cases in Southwest Virginia during the 1950s and 1960s.
In 1960, Lawson challenged the Roanoke City School Board on behalf of the NAACP, representing 28 African American public-school students in Green vs School Board of the City of Roanoke. He fought against the school board’s overall denial of transferring Black students to White schools. This case was pivotal in the movement to undermine the doctrine of “separate but equal” in Roanoke schools.
Notably, he also filed the first desegregation case in Southwest Virginia: Walker v. Floyd County School Board. The suit resulted in the admission of 13 African Americans into Floyd County’s high school, which had only admitted White students prior. He would then go on to lead the charge in the courtroom for similar cases in Pulaski, Grayson and Roanoke Counties and Lynchburg.
A tenacious advocate for Black voices that were often silenced, Lawson was known for taking a stand against racial discrimination. After a 1961 National Football League exhibition game, Lawson challenged the Roanoke City Council on defying Virginia’s segregation law and integrating Roanoke’s Victory Stadium.
In 2022, former U.S. Attorney John Fishwick proposed legislation to rename the Poff Federal Building in Roanoke to the “Reuben Lawson Federal Building” in honor of his lasting legacy. But it faced many challenges and didn’t pass. Regardless, U.S. senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine reintroduced it in 2023.
“Reuben Lawson dedicated his life and career to fighting against segregation and paving the way for historic civil rights action,” said the senators when they first proposed it. “We are proud to introduce this legislation, which would ensure Mr. Lawson’s relentless pursuit of social justice is cemented in Roanoke and remembered across Virginia.”
A year later, that dream became a reality after the measure was approved by former President Joe Biden, permanently cementing the incredible story of a man who had an indomitable spirit and was the epitome of strength itself.
“Mr. Lawson deserves to be recognized for his contributions to ending Jim Crow. The Roanoke Branch NAACP has a shared history with Mr. Lawson and continues to advocate for justice as Mr. Lawson did those many years ago; we can think of no more deserving honor than naming the Federal Courthouse in Roanoke—where Mr. Lawson valiantly fought segregationist policies—after him. Mr. Lawson was truly Roanoke’s own civil rights attorney, embodying not only the city, but the spirit of its diverse population,” Dr. Brenda L. Hale, President of the Roanoke Chapter of the NAACP said previously.
