George Williamson Crawford (October 21, 1877 – August 1, 1972) was a lawyer, public servant and an activist for African-American civil rights in

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134 ...

Biography

Crawford was born in

Tuscaloosa, Alabama Tuscaloosa ( ) is a city in and the seat of Tuscaloosa County in west-central Alabama, United States, on the Black Warrior River where the Gulf Coastal and Piedmont plains meet. Alabama's fifth-largest city, it had an estimated population o ...

, and attended

Tuskegee Institute Tuskegee University (Tuskegee or TU), formerly known as the Tuskegee Institute, is a private, historically black land-grant university in Tuskegee, Alabama. It was founded on Independence Day in 1881 by the state legislature. The campus was de ...

and

Talladega College Talladega College is a private historically black college in Talladega, Alabama. It is Alabama's oldest private historically black college and offers 17 degree programs. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. His ...

, both

historically black college Historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the intention of primarily serving the African-American community. M ...

s. In 1903, Crawford graduated from the Yale University Law School. While at Yale, Crawford received the Townsend Prize awarded to the best orator at the law school, a prestigious award. The award, which included a prize of $100, was given for a speech titled, "Trades, Unionism and Patriotism." He was appointed clerk of the Probate Court of New Haven immediately upon graduation in 1903. From 1907 until the 1950s, Crawford worked in private practice in New Haven. He was particularly recognized for a high-profile case in which he won the acquittals of thirteen defendants (all white), political leaders of

Waterbury, Connecticut Waterbury is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut on the Naugatuck River, southwest of Hartford and northeast of New York City. Waterbury is the second-largest city in New Haven County, Connecticut. According to the 2020 US Census, in 20 ...

who had been charged with criminal breach of the public trust. From 1954 to 1962 he served as corporation counsel for the City of New Haven. Crawford was also active in the

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. ...

, and was one of the founders of the Greater New Haven branch of the organization. He was also an outspoken freemason; he wrote a book on

Prince Hall Prince Hall (1807) was an American abolitionist and leader in the free black community in Boston. He founded Prince Hall Freemasonry and lobbied for education rights for African American children. He was also active in the back-to-Africa movem ...

and black freemasonry. At the end of his life, Crawford was recognized as a pioneering black lawyer and civic leader.

Roy Wilkins Roy Ottoway Wilkins (August 30, 1901 – September 8, 1981) was a prominent activist in the Civil Rights Movement in the United States from the 1930s to the 1970s. Wilkins' most notable role was his leadership of the National Association for the ...

, then executive director of the NAACP, said at a 1966 ceremony dedicating George Crawford Manor, a high-rise residential building for the elderly in New Haven, "It is difficult for a colored man to rise above differences, mistreatments, and inequalities to reach a place such as George Crawford has. He brought all the qualities that make up the American Dream. He served his community—not colored or white—but the whole community." The George W. Crawford Black Bar Association, an organization of black lawyers in Connecticut, was named in his honor.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crawford, George Williamson 1877 births 1972 deaths Lawyers from New Haven, Connecticut People from Tuscaloosa, Alabama Talladega College alumni Tuskegee University alumni Yale Law School alumni African-American lawyers Connecticut lawyers 20th-century African-American people