Penn State Fayette sculpture to honor civil rights leader
A sculpture at Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus will recognize Uniontown native the Rev. James Lawson Jr., a renowned tactician of nonviolence within the Civil Rights Movement.
The聽figurative sculpture聽of Lawson will be paid for by matching funds from the campus and The Eberly Foundation.聽An artist proposal will be selected in February with commemoration details to follow.
鈥淎 colleague of Dr. Martin Luther King, Rev. Lawson was instrumental in advancing the cause of equality for all during one of the defining moments of our nation蘑菇视频 history,鈥� said foundation President Robert E. Eberly Jr. 鈥淚t is particularly fitting that Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus leads the effort to recognize this esteemed Uniontown native and to acknowledge the magnitude of his achievements. The citizens of Uniontown, Fayette County, Pennsylvania and, indeed, the entire country are indebted to him for the freedoms that all Americans enjoy today.鈥�
Lawson was born in Uniontown in 1928 and grew up in Massillon, Ohio.
Following parole from prison in 1952 for refusing to register with the armed forces, he traveled to India for missionary work with the Methodist Church. There, he would become a practitioner of Gandhi蘑菇视频 methods of nonviolent resistance to affect change.
When he returned to the U.S. in 1956, he met King, who encouraged him to lend his nonviolent activism to the civil rights movement in the south. His nonviolent workshops would empower prominent activists to conduct sit-ins and demonstrations for desegregation across the country 鈥� including the Freedom Rides, the March on Washington, Freedom Summer and others.
He was expelled from Vanderbilt University in 1960 for his involvement in the movement, but would be awarded a bachelor of sacred theology degree by Boston College that same year.
Lawson continued his activism in support of the labor movement, reproductive and LGTBQ+ rights, immigrants鈥� rights and more. In 2004, he received the Community of Christ International Peace Award. He has served as a visiting scholar at California State University Northridge since 2010.
鈥淚t is a true privilege to partner with the Eberly Foundation to honor the legacy of the civil rights icon Rev. James Lawson. For the campus and region, this legacy tribute is an opportunity to share a vision of peaceful activism and to incorporate Rev. Lawson蘑菇视频 story into the academic and co-curricular elements of the campus and community,鈥澛爏aid Dr. Charles Patrick, chancellor and chief academic officer.
The foundation has supported higher education with scholarship, endowments and charitable giving at twenty-eight colleges and universities, beginning with Penn State Fayette in 1965, which was named The Eberly Campus in 2004 to honor the family蘑菇视频 legacy of philanthropic support to Penn State and the region.