Lawson was born on December 24, 1916, in Fowler, California, Fresno County[4] He was the son of Herman Lawson (1885–1935), an Oklahoma native, and Frances Anne Walker Lawson (June 30, 1881 - April 24, 1961).
Lawson attended Marysville High School, where he garnered the nickname "Ace" as its star football player.[5]
In the late 1930s after a year in the Civilian Conservation Corp, Lawson attended Fresno State University, one of three African American students there at the time.[6] While at Fresno, Lawson became the first African American to play four years of football there.[6][7] He also served as the Fresno Football team's official photographer. A prolific athlete, Lawson was also Fresno's collegiate Light Heavyweight Boxing champion, a letterman in Basketball, and a letterman in track and field.[5]
At Fresno, Lawson met and later married fellow student Pearl Lee Johnson Lawson, an aspiring teacher.[6][8] The Lawsons had seven children: Betty Lawson Davis, Patricia Lawson, Gloria Lawson-Riddle, Yvonne Lawson, Thomas Lawson, Tracey Lawson, and a child who died as an infant.[4]
After riding on an aircraft with a pilot friend, Lawson became interested in becoming a pilot and joining the U.S. Army Air Corps.[6] Lawson became one of the first African Americans in Northern California to earn a Private Pilot license. He also built his own functioning gliders.[5]
Military service
Class 42-I Left to right: Nathaniel M. Hill, Marshall S. Cabiness, Herman A. Lawson, William T. Mattison, John A. Gibson, Elwood T Driver, Price D. Rice, Andrew D. Turner
While a student at Fresno State University, Lawson and a group of friends attended an interview event with the U.S. Army Air Corps. After an hour's wait, an U.S. Army Air CorpsColonel and a Lieutenant dismissed Lawson, telling him that the military had no interest in recruiting "night fighters," a vague but albeit stark reference to Lawson's race.[9] Undeterred, Lawson wrote a letter to Congress and a separate letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt's wife, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt who had been sympathetic to African American causes.[6] After receiving an U.S. Army Air Corps flight school acceptance letter in the U.S. mails, Lawson rushed to a local train station en route to Tuskegee Army Air Field in Tuskegee, Alabama, abandoning his car storing $1,000 worth of camera equipment in its trunk.[10]
Lawson became one of second group of 99th Fighter Squadron replacement pilots. Lawson and several other 99th Fighter Squadron pilots were sent to Brazil in error.[5]
On September 22, 1944, as the 99th Fighter Squadron's flight leader, Lawson and his squadron escorted 5th Bomb Wing B-17 bombers on a mission to destroy an Allach BMW Engine Works plant in Munich, Germany.[12] One of Lawson's squadron pilots, Flight Officer Leonard R. Willette, radioed that he needed to bail from his aircraft as a result of low oil pressure. Though Lawson instructed Willette to change radio channels and head back to base, Willette, unable to bail, crashed. The Germans recovered Willette's body, returning it through the Red Cross.[13]
After his tour in Europe ended, Lawson returned to Tuskegee as a flight instructor.[11] After World War II, Lawson remained in the military, retiring after 25 years with the rank of Major.[4]
After leaving the military, Lawson worked 20 years for the State of California.[4][11] In 1973, Lawson was appointed to the Sacramento, California City Council as District 2 Councilman, completing the remainder of then-recently deceased District 2 council member Rosenwald Robertson's term until 1975. District 2, located in the northeastern area of Sacramento, included the neighborhoods of Arden Fair, Ben Ali, Cannon Industrial Park, Del Paso Heights, Erikson Industrial Park, Glenwood Meadows, Hagginwood, Noralto, North Sacramento, Parker Homes, Robla, Strawberry Manor, Swanston Estates, Woodlake, Youngs Heights.[15][16][17]
^Black Politics After the Civil Rights Movement. David Covin. 2009. Page 84.
Notes
^The red markings that distinguished the Tuskegee Airmen included red bands on the noses of P-51s as well as a red rudder; their P-51B and D Mustangs flew with similar color schemes, with red propeller spinners, yellow wing bands and all-red tail surfaces.[2]
