William F. Gibson (November 23, 1933 – May 2, 2002)"William Gibson, Dentist and Controversial Activist"
African American Registry. was an

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...

dentist who served as chair of 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. ...

(NAACP) from 1985 to 1995. Gibson was a graduate of

North Carolina A&T State University North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (also known as North Carolina A&T State University, North Carolina A&T, N.C. A&T, or simply A&T) is a public, historically black land-grant research university in Greensboro, North Caro ...

and

Meharry Medical College Meharry Medical College is a Private university, private Historically black colleges and universities, historically black Medical school in the United States, medical school affiliated with the United Methodist Church and located in Nashville, Te ...

. He served as president of the NAACP's regional branch in Greenville, South Carolina before succeeding Margaret Bush Wilson as national chairperson. As chair, he encouraged

voter registration In electoral systems, voter registration (or enrollment) is the requirement that a person otherwise eligible to vote must register (or enroll) on an electoral roll, which is usually a prerequisite for being entitled or permitted to vote. The r ...

and worked to increase economic opportunities for African Americans. In 1995 NAACP board members voted 30–29 to replace Gibson with

Myrlie Evers-Williams Myrlie Louise Evers-Williams (née Beasley; born March 17, 1933) is an American civil rights activist and journalist who worked for over three decades to seek justice for the 1963 murder of her husband Medgar Evers, another civil rights activist ...

, widow of

Medgar Evers Medgar Wiley Evers (; July 2, 1925June 12, 1963) was an American civil rights activist and the NAACP's first field secretary in Mississippi, who was murdered by Byron De La Beckwith. Evers, a decorated U.S. Army combat veteran who had served i ...

. Gibson died of cancer at the age of 69 in Greenville on May 2, 2002.DeWayne Wickham
"NAACP chief led despite scandal"
Opinion, ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgi ...

'', May 6, 2002.

References

External links

*Juliette Fairley.
A martyr's wife steps forward: can Myrlie Evers-Williams restore the NAACP's credibility?
. ''

Black Enterprise ''Black Enterprise'' is a black-owned multimedia company. Since the 1970s, its flagship product ''Black Enterprise'' magazine has covered African-American businesses with a readership of 3.7 million. The company was founded in 1970 by Earl ...

'', May 1995. *Phil W. Petrie.
William Gibson remembered by national leaders
. '' The New Crisis''. July/August 2002. * NAACP activists 1933 births 2002 deaths American dentists North Carolina A&T State University alumni Meharry Medical College alumni Deaths from cancer in South Carolina African-American dentists 20th-century dentists 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American people {{US-med-bio-stub