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The Ritter Library exhibit highlights the life of celebrated civil rights leader and BW graduate James Lawson '51, who died last summer.
The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. called the Rev. James M. Lawson Jr. '51 "the leading theorist and strategist of nonviolence in the world."
Now, a new exhibit at BW's Ritter Library, which opened as part of the University's annual Martin Luther King Week activities, invites visitors to study the incredible legacy of one of Baldwin Wallace University's most notable graduates.
Sarah Burger '25, Morgan Showalter '25 and Madeleine Simmons '24 worked with BW Historian Kieth Peppers to curate the exhibit.
Simmons, who earned her degree in public history in December, found "deep meaning" in the experience of telling Lawson's story through words, photos and artifacts.
"Curating an exhibit allows me to immerse myself in the lives of people from different backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives," Simmons says. "It's a special experience to explore the life of someone and seek to understand who they were as a person and their impact on the world around them."
Burger, a history and French double major, cut the ribbon at the ceremonial opening of the exhibit. "It was fun coming up with the design of the exhibit," she says. "Beyond the research, we looked for ways to tell the story of such a great alumnus."
"I loved the whole process from start to finish," adds Showalter, a public history major. "To be able to learn more about Lawson and to create an exhibit that honored his life and legacy was a privilege. We wanted to be able to narrate how he came to use and incorporate the teachings of Gandhi to hold peaceful protests and how he inspired and led so many."
After growing up in Massillon, Ohio, Lawson came to BW in 1947 to study sociology, where he joined the local chapter of the Fellowship of Reconciliation as well as the Congress of Racial Equality, which practiced nonviolence and passive resistance.
Lawson's BW education was interrupted when he was imprisoned for 13 months for becoming a conscientious objector to the draft.
Following his release, he finished his degree at BW. He then went on to spend three years in India as a Methodist missionary, where he studied Gandhi's peaceful methods of civil protest.
He leveraged that knowledge to become "one of the chief architects of the 1960s civil rights struggle as it spread through the South," according to his 2024 obituary in The New York Times.
Peppers says "Lawson’s story reaffirms what I tell my public history students—there are insightful, incredible stories everywhere: in the places we pass, the people we meet, and the communities we live in. He [Lawson] led an extraordinary life of purpose and tireless ambition. His legacy of advocating for Civil Rights through passive resistance deserves recognition alongside more widely known figures."
Showalter says the exhibit deliberately incorporates material from Lawson's time at BW "as it was an essential background for his nonviolent philosophy used during protests."
The students also find lessons for their own generation in Lawson's life.
"He fought for civil rights, social justice, progress and change through a nonviolent philosophy that changed the way we fight … for social change in the modern age, Showalter says. "He is still an inspiration for many people and movements."
Simmons adds, "To see photographs of James Lawson as a student at Baldwin Wallace and to read his contributions to The Mill [BW's student literary journal] creates a sense of connection between him and the Baldwin Wallace community of today. That connection can serve to both ground us in the reality of his humanity and inspire us with the idea that we, too, can make an impact."
For more information on Rev. Lawson's life and legacy, read James Lawson, a Civil Rights Giant.
