Law, W. W. (Westley Wallace), 1923-2002

Westley Wallace Law; also known as W. W. Law; born January 1, 1923, Savannah, Georgia; died July 29, 2002, Savannah, Georgia; American civil rights leader from Savannah, Georgia. He was president of the Savannah chapter of the NAACP and made great strides in desegregation through nonviolent resistance from 1950 to 1976. He spent much of the rest of his life advocating for African-American history and culture in Savannah. He established the Savannah-Yamacraw Branch of the Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and History, the Ralph Mark Gilbert Civil Rights Museum, the King-Tisdell Cottage Museum, the Beach Institute of African American Culture, and the Negro Heritage Trail Tour ...

W. W. Law was a crusader for justice and the civil rights of African Americans. He served as president of the Savannah chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) from 1950 to 1976 and came to be widely known as “Mr. Civil Rights.”

Born on January 1, 1923, in Savannah, Westley Wallace Law was the only son and the oldest of the three children of Geneva Wallace and Westley Law. He came from a poor family and began working at the age of ten to help his mother after his father died. Later on he credited his success in life to his mother and to Lillie Belle Wallace, his grandmother, who instilled in him a love for reading and social justice. He was also inspired by his mentor, Ralph Mark Gilbert, pastor of the First African Baptist Church, who revived the local branch of the Savannah NAACP; and he admired John S. Delaware, his boyhood scoutmaster, who was a Savannah NAACP official ...