Lafayette M. Hershaw

Lafayette McKeene Hershaw
Niagara Movement leaders W. E. B. Du Bois (seated), and (left to right) J. R. Clifford, Lafayette M. Hershaw, and F. H. M. Murray at Harpers Ferry.
Born	(1863-05-10)May 10, 1863 Clay County, North Carolina, U.S.
Died	September 2, 1945(1945-09-02) (aged 82) Washington, D.C., U.S.
Alma mater	Clark Atlanta University Howard University
Occupation	Journalist, Lawyer, Clerk
Spouse(s)	Charlotte Monroe

Lafayette M. Hershaw (May 10, 1863 - September 2, 1945) was a journalist, lawyer, and a clerk and law examiner for the General Land Office of the United States Department of the Interior. He was a key intellectual figure among African Americans in Atlanta in the 1880s and in Washington, DC from 1890 until his death. He was a leader of the intellectual social groups in the capital such as Bethel Literary and Historical Society and the Pen and Pencil Club. He was a strong supporter of W. E. B. Du Bois and was one of the thirteen organizers of the Niagara Movement, the forerunner to the NAACP. He was an officer of the DC Branch of the NAACP from its inception until 1928. He was also a founder of the Robert H Terrell Law School and served as the schools president.

Lafayette McKeene Hershaw was born on May 10, 1863 in Clay County, North Carolina to Abraham Hershaw and Anne McKeene. He had African, Native American, and French blood and learned to speak and read French,Spanish, and German. Among his first job was working for moonshiners in the mountain wilderness of the region. Hershaw began his studies at Atlanta University in 1879 and received a Bachelor of Arts from the school in 1886. He also studied law at Howard University and received a Bachelor of Laws from that school in 1892. Hershaw was described as sad-eyed and having a fuzzy mustache.

On July 11, 1888 he married Charlotte Monroe. He had three daughters, Rosa Cecile (who married Howard Alum and Harlem, New York Doctor James T. W. Granady), Alice May, and Fay M. Charlotte died on October 26, 1930.