Copyright Mechanicsburg Patriot News
Stanley Lawson Sr., who led the Greater Harrisburg Area NAACP for more than a decade, died Tuesday surrounded by family at age 84. Lawson broke barriers for Black people in Harrisburg and was committed to advancing civil rights in the city and beyond, according to his obituary which noted he was a “devoted son, father, public servant and community leader whose life’s work was dedicated to equality, justice and serving others.” Before Lawson’s five-decade career in public service, he served in the U.S. Navy from 1960 to 1964, during the Vietnam War. The Harrisburg native was the first Black man elected to Harrisburg City Council in 1969 and eventually served as the vice president in the 1970s. He was also the first Black man on the Susquehanna Township Board of Commissioners, the first Black president of AFSCME Council #13 and the first African American Chairman of the Dauphin County Republican committee. Frank Lynch, president of the Susquehanna Township Board of Commissioners, first met Lawson 24 years ago when Lynch was a rookie and Lawson was president of the board. Lynch described Lawson as both his “mentor and tormentor,” saying Lawson seemed to know everything. “I think his lasting legacy will be that of a fighter with a big heart. He would never hesitate to go toe to toe with anybody who threatened his community or the dignity of his fellow man,” Lynch said. Lawson was an effective and intelligent politician, Lynch said. The lessons he imparted to Lynch and other township commissioners still echo. “The halls still whisper with his anecdotes and the things he did, just his way with people. He was a legend and I was proud to know him,” Lynch said. “He and I were on opposite sides of the political aisle but we learned to work together.” Lawson made an impact in his neighborhood too, said Lynch, who lived across the street from Lawson for a time. Lawson would hold political and social gatherings on his porch, and Lynch could hear his “booming voice” and his laughter. Lawson’s heart and soul was in the community of Edgemont, where he lived, Lynch said. Lawson served on the township’s human relations commission until his death, even though he wasn’t able to attend many meetings in-person in recent months. Aside from his political positions, Lawson was one of the longest-serving presidents in the Greater Harrisburg Area NAACP, serving even as he struggled with end-stage renal disease and underwent a kidney transplant in 2012. He was tireless in his pursuit of justice and equity, friends say. He retired as president in 2016. “We absolutely have not outlived our responsibilities. The beat goes on,” Lawson said at the chapter’s 55th anniversary celebration in 2009. Lawson took part in several important moments in history. He attended The March on Washington in 1963 and heard Martin Luther King Jr. deliver his historic “I Have a Dream” speech. “We weren’t marching for black nor white,” Lawson told PennLive about the events. He said he and others were marching for equality for everyone, regardless of their “color or creed.” He was also part of the original “Million Man March” at the National Mall in 1995, aimed at combatting negative stereotypes of Black men and pushing congress to act in the interest of African Americans. Lawson received the Rosa Parks Award from the Martin Luther King Jr. Leadership Development Institute in 2017 for his service to the community. Aside from his work in public policy and civil rights, Lawson was a devoted man of faith. He was ordained as a deacon at the First Spirit Filled Missionary Baptist church in 2009. Despite his busy schedule, Lawson expanded his family’s business ventures through the 1990s, establishing and managing Lawson’s Grocery, Stan Lawson’s Palace and other residential and commercial real estate enterprises. “He was just such a vigorous defender of people’s right to dignity and their ability to have a habitable community that they could be proud to call home,” Lynch said. “He was a fighter for justice no matter what form it took. I was lucky to know him.”
