Butler R. Wilson
| Butler Roland Wilson | |
|---|---|
Butler R. Wilson ca. 1916
|
|
| Born |
July 22, 1861 Greensboro, Georgia, U.S. |
| Died | October 31, 1939 (aged 78) Boston, U.S. |
| Resting place | Forest Hills Cemetery |
| Alma mater |
Atlanta University Boston University School of Law |
| Known for | |
| Spouse(s) | Mary Evans Wilson |
| Children | 6 |
Butler Roland Wilson (1861-1939) was an attorney, civil rights activist, and humanitarian based in Boston, Massachusetts. From Georgia, he came to Boston for law school and stayed. For over fifty years, he worked to combat racial discrimination in Massachusetts. He was one of the first African-American members of the American Bar Association. Wilson was a founding member and president of the Boston branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People(NAACP).
Butler Roland Wilson was born in Greensboro, Georgia, on July 11, 1861, to Dr. John R. and Mary Jackson Wilson, free people of color. His father was a well-known physician and civic leader in the Atlanta area. Wilson attended Atlanta University, a historically black college, where he was captain of the varsity baseball team and was voted class orator. He received his B.A. degree in 1881 and M.A. in 1884.
Against the wishes of his parents, who wanted him to become a minister, Wilson traveled to Boston to earn his LL.B. at the Boston University School of Law. There he befriended the attorney and civil rights activist Archibald H. Grimké, and began writing for Grimké's Republican newspaper, The Hub. He graduated with honors in 1884, and was admitted to the Massachusetts Bar Association the same year.
On June 27, 1894, Wilson and Mary P. Evans were married by Archibald Grimké's brother, the Reverend Francis James Grimké. The couple moved to 13 Rutland Square in Boston's South End, where they raised their six children. Mary Wilson became a well-known activist in her own right; she was a founding member of the Women's Service Club, NAACP Boston branch.
...
Wikipedia