"Belford Lawson,Jr"[July 9,1901-February 23,1985]

Was an American Attorney and civil rights activists who made at least eight appearances before the U.S. Supreme Court.Belford was the first African-American man to win a case before the Supreme Court and the first African American president of the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA).Belford attended the University of Michigan and was the school's second African- American varsity football player (having been preceded by George Jewett in the 1890s) and the only African American on the varsity during Fielding H.Yost's coaching tenure.In 1924,after graduating from Michigan,Belford hired the head football coach and athletic director at Jackson College (now known as Jackson State University),a historically African American college in Jackson, Mississippi.He also served as a professor of social science and the director Teachers'Professional Department.In his three years as the head football coach at Jackson College,the team complied a record of 0-3 and was outscored 54-0.Belford was also reported to have held a position as a professor of economics at Morris Brown College in Atlanta,Georgia.Morris Brown president John Lewis,a Yale University graduate,was instrumental with Belford's acceptance to Yale Law School,although Belford would receive his J.D. from Howard University School of law in 1932.In 1933,Belford founded the New Negro Alliance (NNA) in Washington,D.C.,along with John A.Davis,Sr.and N.Franklin Throne,to combat white-owned businesses in African-American neighborhoods that would not hire African American employees.The NNA instituted a then-radical Don't Buy Where You Can't Work campaign,and organized or threatened boycotts against white-owned businesses.In response,some businesses arranged for an injunction to stop the picketing.Belford,the lead attorney,with assistance by Thurgood Marshall fought back-all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court in New Negro Alliance v.Sanitary Grocery Co.(1938) that safeguarded a right to boycott.This became a landmark case in the struggle by African Americans against discriminatory hiring practices,and Don't Buy Where You Can't Work groups multiplied throughout the nation.The NNA estimated that by 1940,the group had secured 5,106 jobs for African Americans because businesses could not afford to lose sales during the Great Depression.In 1934,Belford encouraged the NAACP special counsel Charles Hamilton Houston to authorize Thurgood Marshall to file the case of Murray v.Maryland (1935) to challenge University of Maryland School of Law laws requiring racial segregation in its colleges.Thurgood won the case,and Donald Murray was admitted to the university's law school.Belford was part of the legal team that won Henderson v.Southern Railroad Company (1950),challenging the Interstate Commerce Commission's approval of railroad racial segregation practices.The lawsuit resulted in the abolishing of segregation in railroad dining cars.Belford was the 16th General President of Alpha Phi Alpha,the first intercollegiate Greek letter organization established by African Americans.The fraternity sponsors an annual Belford V.Lawson Oratorical Contest in which collegiate members demonstrate their oratorical  members demonstrate their oratorical skills at the first chapter level,with the winner competing at the state,regional and general convention.The fraternity says "the purpose of the Belford V.Lawson Oratorical Contest is to identify problems or special topics of interest within society and determine how the problem or topic relates to the goals and objectives of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity,incorporated.Belford rented the third floor of his Logan Circle home to fraternity brothers and Representative Adam Clayton Powell,Jr.during Adam's tenure in Congress.In 1973 he was elected President of the National Council of the YMCA.Belford died in Washington,D.C.,after having battered Alzheimer's diease and cancer.