Civil Rights Advocate, professor, and Pastor William “Bill” Lawson was born William Alexander Lawson on June 28, 1928, in St. Louis, Missouri, to Walter Lawson and Clarisse Lawson Cade. William, his two brothers, and his sister were all reared in Kansas City, Kansas. In 1946, Lawson graduated from the segregated Summer High School in the city. Afterward, he enrolled in Tennessee State University (TSU) in Nashville, Tennessee, where he majored in Sociology and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1950. Immediately afterward, he enrolled in Central Baptist Theological Seminary in Shawnee, Kansas, and received a Bachelor of Divinity specializing in New Testament Interpretation in 1953 and a Master of Theology in 1955. While in seminary, he married Audrey Ann Hoffman, a TSU Alum (January 30, 1954,) and they moved to Houston, Texas, in 1955.

From 1955 to 1965, Lawson was chaplain of the Baptist Student Union, professor of religious studies, and later, director of Upward Bound at Texas Southern University. He was active in the Civil Rights Movement, setting up a local office of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in 1960 through his association with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

In 1962, Lawson founded the megachurch Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church in Third Ward in Houston with 13 members. Located just a few blocks from Texas Southern University, Wheeler soon became the nucleus of nonviolent information and strategies for TSU students involved in civil rights protests. Lawson raised sizeable amounts of money to bail out students unjustly arrested for taking part in a Weingarten’s supermarket lunch counter protest of its segregationist policies in 1962.

Wheeler Ave. Baptist Church Main Entrance (Courtesy of the Quintard Taylor Collection)

In what was a rare move by university administrators, in 1969, they asked Lawson to set up the University of Houston’s first Afro-American Studies Program.

In 1996, Rev. William A. Lawson’s unwavering commitment to community development led him to set up the William A. Lawson Institute for Peace and Prosperity (WALIPP). This non-profit advocacy agency, which included a Preparatory Academy for young boys, was not just a testament to his vision but a beacon of hope for a better future for his community.

After an illustrious tenure of 42 years as pastor at Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church, Rev. William A. Lawson retired in 2004. He left an indelible mark on the Church. Under his leadership, the congregation grew to an impressive 12,000, a testament to his ability to inspire and unite. After becoming Pastor Emeritus at Wheeler, he published the book Lawson’s Leaves of Love: Daily Meditations.

In 2020, Lawson addressed the congregation at the Fountain of Praise Church in Houston for the funeral service for 46-year-old George Floyd, who was unjustly murdered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, by a white police officer with the Minneapolis Police Department.

A recipient of numerous awards and accolades, Lawson held an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from Howard Payne University in Brownwood, Texas, and an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from the University of Houston. In 2021, Rice University in Houston recognized the outstanding contributions of Lawson by naming part of its campus “The Reverend William A. Lawson Grove.”

Rev. William Alexander Lawson, the father of Melanie Lawson, Cheryl Lawson, Eric Lawson, and Roxanne Lawson, died on May 14, 2024. He was 95.