Birth date and middle name are per his WWII draft card
Jesse Lawrence and Julia Lessie Brown were married in Danville, Virginia on July 21, 1926. They were both residents of Greensboro, NC at the time. Jesse was a teacher. Parents of groom: E. D. and Nancy Lawrence. Parents of bride: F. G. and Janie Brown.
Biography from The Kentucky African American Encyclopedia edited by Gerald L. Smith, Karen Cotton McDaniel, John A. Hardin:
JESSE H. LAWRENCE (b. 1901, Anchorage, KY; d. 1966, Louisville, KY), state legislator.
Born outside Louisville in Anchorage, KY to Elias D. and Nancy Lawrence, Jesse H. Lawrence grew up in Middletown in eastern Jefferson County. After graduating from Central High School, he obtained his bachelor's degree from Howard University in Washington DC, and a master of science degree from Indiana University.
Lawrence then setled in Louisville and became active in the city's African American community during the 1930s. He became the owner of the Fannie L. Hobbs Funeral Home and served alongside Charles H. Parrish as a coach for multiple sports at Louisville Municipal College. In 1932 he joined Rufus B. Atwood in organizing and promoting the Mid-Western Athletic Association, which was composed of Louisville's Municipal College, Kentucky State College (later known as Kentucky State University), and other colleges from West Virginia and Ohio.
In 1949 Lawrence successfully ran as a Republican for representative of Louisville's 42nd District and became the third African American elected to the Kentucky General Assembly. During his first year in office, as the only African American serving in the 1950 General Assembly, he sponsored an amendment to the Day Law that would allow black students to attend white colleges if they had a program or a degree that was not offered by Kentucky State. Almost immediately after the amendment was passed, Bellarmine College, Nazareth College, Ursuline College, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville Presbyterian Seminary, and Berea College voluntarily integrated many of their programs. Additionally, by the end of the year, the University of Louisville had agreed to accept black applicants to its professional and graduate schools. In November 1951, Lawrence was re-elected and continued to represent Louisville's black community through the end of his second two-year term.
Lawrence remained active in Louisville Republican politics for the rest of the 1950s and early 1960s. In 1952 he became the first black politician to ride on presidential candidate Dwight Eisenhower's campaign train and had a private lunch with Dwight and Mamie Eisenhower between campaign stops in Evansville, IN and Louisville. IN 1960 he served as an alternate delegate to the Republican National Convention in Chicago. During the early 1960s he served as the vice chairman of Louisville's city-county Republican Party and worked alongside Frank Stanley, Jr. and the Non-partisan Registration Committee in advocating black voter registration. As a leading African American Republican in Louisville, Lawrence oversaw the 1961 municipal election campaign that garnered significant African American support for the Republican landslide in that year's local elections.
Jesse H. Lawrence died in Louisville on January 30, 1966.
Jesse Lawrence and Julia Lessie Brown were married in Danville, Virginia on July 21, 1926. They were both residents of Greensboro, NC at the time. Jesse was a teacher. Parents of groom: E. D. and Nancy Lawrence. Parents of bride: F. G. and Janie Brown.
Biography from The Kentucky African American Encyclopedia edited by Gerald L. Smith, Karen Cotton McDaniel, John A. Hardin:
JESSE H. LAWRENCE (b. 1901, Anchorage, KY; d. 1966, Louisville, KY), state legislator.
Born outside Louisville in Anchorage, KY to Elias D. and Nancy Lawrence, Jesse H. Lawrence grew up in Middletown in eastern Jefferson County. After graduating from Central High School, he obtained his bachelor's degree from Howard University in Washington DC, and a master of science degree from Indiana University.
Lawrence then setled in Louisville and became active in the city's African American community during the 1930s. He became the owner of the Fannie L. Hobbs Funeral Home and served alongside Charles H. Parrish as a coach for multiple sports at Louisville Municipal College. In 1932 he joined Rufus B. Atwood in organizing and promoting the Mid-Western Athletic Association, which was composed of Louisville's Municipal College, Kentucky State College (later known as Kentucky State University), and other colleges from West Virginia and Ohio.
In 1949 Lawrence successfully ran as a Republican for representative of Louisville's 42nd District and became the third African American elected to the Kentucky General Assembly. During his first year in office, as the only African American serving in the 1950 General Assembly, he sponsored an amendment to the Day Law that would allow black students to attend white colleges if they had a program or a degree that was not offered by Kentucky State. Almost immediately after the amendment was passed, Bellarmine College, Nazareth College, Ursuline College, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville Presbyterian Seminary, and Berea College voluntarily integrated many of their programs. Additionally, by the end of the year, the University of Louisville had agreed to accept black applicants to its professional and graduate schools. In November 1951, Lawrence was re-elected and continued to represent Louisville's black community through the end of his second two-year term.
Lawrence remained active in Louisville Republican politics for the rest of the 1950s and early 1960s. In 1952 he became the first black politician to ride on presidential candidate Dwight Eisenhower's campaign train and had a private lunch with Dwight and Mamie Eisenhower between campaign stops in Evansville, IN and Louisville. IN 1960 he served as an alternate delegate to the Republican National Convention in Chicago. During the early 1960s he served as the vice chairman of Louisville's city-county Republican Party and worked alongside Frank Stanley, Jr. and the Non-partisan Registration Committee in advocating black voter registration. As a leading African American Republican in Louisville, Lawrence oversaw the 1961 municipal election campaign that garnered significant African American support for the Republican landslide in that year's local elections.
Jesse H. Lawrence died in Louisville on January 30, 1966.
Birth date and middle name are per his WWII draft card
Jesse Lawrence and Julia Lessie Brown were married in Danville, Virginia on July 21, 1926. They were both residents of Greensboro, NC at the time. Jesse was a teacher. Parents of groom: E. D. and Nancy Lawrence. Parents of bride: F. G. and Janie Brown.
Biography from The Kentucky African American Encyclopedia edited by Gerald L. Smith, Karen Cotton McDaniel, John A. Hardin:
JESSE H. LAWRENCE (b. 1901, Anchorage, KY; d. 1966, Louisville, KY), state legislator.
Born outside Louisville in Anchorage, KY to Elias D. and Nancy Lawrence, Jesse H. Lawrence grew up in Middletown in eastern Jefferson County. After graduating from Central High School, he obtained his bachelor's degree from Howard University in Washington DC, and a master of science degree from Indiana University.
Lawrence then setled in Louisville and became active in the city's African American community during the 1930s. He became the owner of the Fannie L. Hobbs Funeral Home and served alongside Charles H. Parrish as a coach for multiple sports at Louisville Municipal College. In 1932 he joined Rufus B. Atwood in organizing and promoting the Mid-Western Athletic Association, which was composed of Louisville's Municipal College, Kentucky State College (later known as Kentucky State University), and other colleges from West Virginia and Ohio.
In 1949 Lawrence successfully ran as a Republican for representative of Louisville's 42nd District and became the third African American elected to the Kentucky General Assembly. During his first year in office, as the only African American serving in the 1950 General Assembly, he sponsored an amendment to the Day Law that would allow black students to attend white colleges if they had a program or a degree that was not offered by Kentucky State. Almost immediately after the amendment was passed, Bellarmine College, Nazareth College, Ursuline College, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville Presbyterian Seminary, and Berea College voluntarily integrated many of their programs. Additionally, by the end of the year, the University of Louisville had agreed to accept black applicants to its professional and graduate schools. In November 1951, Lawrence was re-elected and continued to represent Louisville's black community through the end of his second two-year term.
Lawrence remained active in Louisville Republican politics for the rest of the 1950s and early 1960s. In 1952 he became the first black politician to ride on presidential candidate Dwight Eisenhower's campaign train and had a private lunch with Dwight and Mamie Eisenhower between campaign stops in Evansville, IN and Louisville. IN 1960 he served as an alternate delegate to the Republican National Convention in Chicago. During the early 1960s he served as the vice chairman of Louisville's city-county Republican Party and worked alongside Frank Stanley, Jr. and the Non-partisan Registration Committee in advocating black voter registration. As a leading African American Republican in Louisville, Lawrence oversaw the 1961 municipal election campaign that garnered significant African American support for the Republican landslide in that year's local elections.
Jesse H. Lawrence died in Louisville on January 30, 1966.
Jesse Lawrence and Julia Lessie Brown were married in Danville, Virginia on July 21, 1926. They were both residents of Greensboro, NC at the time. Jesse was a teacher. Parents of groom: E. D. and Nancy Lawrence. Parents of bride: F. G. and Janie Brown.
Biography from The Kentucky African American Encyclopedia edited by Gerald L. Smith, Karen Cotton McDaniel, John A. Hardin:
JESSE H. LAWRENCE (b. 1901, Anchorage, KY; d. 1966, Louisville, KY), state legislator.
Born outside Louisville in Anchorage, KY to Elias D. and Nancy Lawrence, Jesse H. Lawrence grew up in Middletown in eastern Jefferson County. After graduating from Central High School, he obtained his bachelor's degree from Howard University in Washington DC, and a master of science degree from Indiana University.
Lawrence then setled in Louisville and became active in the city's African American community during the 1930s. He became the owner of the Fannie L. Hobbs Funeral Home and served alongside Charles H. Parrish as a coach for multiple sports at Louisville Municipal College. In 1932 he joined Rufus B. Atwood in organizing and promoting the Mid-Western Athletic Association, which was composed of Louisville's Municipal College, Kentucky State College (later known as Kentucky State University), and other colleges from West Virginia and Ohio.
In 1949 Lawrence successfully ran as a Republican for representative of Louisville's 42nd District and became the third African American elected to the Kentucky General Assembly. During his first year in office, as the only African American serving in the 1950 General Assembly, he sponsored an amendment to the Day Law that would allow black students to attend white colleges if they had a program or a degree that was not offered by Kentucky State. Almost immediately after the amendment was passed, Bellarmine College, Nazareth College, Ursuline College, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville Presbyterian Seminary, and Berea College voluntarily integrated many of their programs. Additionally, by the end of the year, the University of Louisville had agreed to accept black applicants to its professional and graduate schools. In November 1951, Lawrence was re-elected and continued to represent Louisville's black community through the end of his second two-year term.
Lawrence remained active in Louisville Republican politics for the rest of the 1950s and early 1960s. In 1952 he became the first black politician to ride on presidential candidate Dwight Eisenhower's campaign train and had a private lunch with Dwight and Mamie Eisenhower between campaign stops in Evansville, IN and Louisville. IN 1960 he served as an alternate delegate to the Republican National Convention in Chicago. During the early 1960s he served as the vice chairman of Louisville's city-county Republican Party and worked alongside Frank Stanley, Jr. and the Non-partisan Registration Committee in advocating black voter registration. As a leading African American Republican in Louisville, Lawrence oversaw the 1961 municipal election campaign that garnered significant African American support for the Republican landslide in that year's local elections.
Jesse H. Lawrence died in Louisville on January 30, 1966.
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