nation. The NNA estimated that by 1940, the group had secured 5,106 jobs for blacks because businesses could not afford to lose sales of black customers during the Great Depression. In 1934, Lawson encouraged National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) special counsel Charles Houston to authorize Thurgood Marshall to file the case of Murray v. Maryland (1935) to challenge the state law requiring segregation in the University of Maryland School of Law. Marshall won the case, and Donald Murray was admitted to the university's law school. Lawson was part of the legal team that won Henderson v. Southern Railway Company (1950), challenging the Interstate Commerce Commission's approval of railroad racial segregation practices. The lawsuit resulted in the abolition of segregation in railroad dining cars. Lawson was the 16th General President of Alpha Phi Alpha, the first intercollegiate Greek letter organization established by African Americans. The fraternity sponsors an annual Belford V. Lawson Oratorical Contest. Collegiate members compete in oratorical skills at the chapter level, with the winner competing at the state, regional, and general conventions. The fraternity says "the purpose of the Belford V. Lawson Oratorical Contest is to identify problems or special topics of interest within society and determine how the problem or topic relates to the goals and objectives of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated." Lawson rented the third floor of his Logan Circle home to fraternity brother Adam Clayton Powell Jr., a US Representative (D-NY), during Powell's tenure in Congress. In 1973, Lawson was elected President of YMCA of the USA. He continued to be active in law and civic activities but reduced his activities in later years. He died in Washington, D.C., in 1985, after having battled Alzheimer's disease and cancer. References 1901 births 1985 deaths Activists for African-American civil rights African-American lawyers Alpha Phi Alpha presidents Howard University alumni Jackson State Tigers football coaches Michigan Wolverines football players Lawyers from Washington, D.C. Yale Law School alumni YMCA leaders People from Roanoke, Virginia African-American coaches of American football African-American players of American football 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century African-American sportspeople