Dr. Lawrence Aaron Nixon (1884-1966) - El Paso, Texas

Dr. Lawrence Aaron Nixon (1884-1966) was a black physician and voting-rights advocate. After ten lynchings of black men in Texas in 1909, Nixon decided to become a civil-rights advocate. He then moved to El Paso, where he established a successful medical practice, helped organize a Methodist congregation, voted in Democratic primary and general elections, and in 1910 helped to organize the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). In 1924 NAACP Field Secretary William Pickens visited El Paso, Texas and announced that the NAACP intended to test the constitutionality of the Terrell Law. The Terrell Law was passed in 1923 by the Texas Legislature which stated “In no event shall a Negro be eligible to participate in a Democratic primary election…in…Texas.” On July 26, 1924, with the sponsorship of the NAACP, Nixon took his poll-tax receipt to a Democratic primary polling place and was refused a ballot. Thus began a twenty-year struggle in which Nixon and his El Paso attorney, Fred C. Knollenberg, twice carried their case to the United States Supreme Court. Nixon won his cases and today they are regarded as major steps toward voting rights. However, there were legal loop holes under which the state and the Democratic party continued to deny primary votes to blacks. It was not until 1944 that Nixon and his wife were able to vote for the first time.

Area: Central / South Central

Source: C.L. Sonnichsen Special Collections, University of Texas at El Paso Library. Collection Name: Thirman (Morris) photos. Photo ID: MS505 DrNixon-dec3<i>1959</i>02.jpg