E.D. (Edgar Daniel) Nixon (1899-1987)
E.D. Nixon, a resident of Montgomery, Alabama, led the local Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the local NAACP, the Montgomery Welfare League and the Montgomery Voters League at various points in his life. He earned his livelihood as a sleeping car porter and worked as a recreation director for a housing project after he retired from railroad work.
Civil Rights Era
In 1944 E.D. Nixon helped to file an appeal on behalf of Viola White, who had been convicted of violating segregation laws on a Montgomery city bus. The court never heard the case, but E.D. Nixon kept looking for ways to challenge segregation laws. He considered filing suits several times, but did not until Rosa Parks was arrested. After she was arrested and he posted bond for her, Nixon began to put into motion both the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the federal suit that eventually ended segregation on Montgomery buses. He was instrumental in forming the Montgomery Improvement Association and served as the treasurer from 1955 to 1958.
Bibliography
Information for this biography was gathered from the following sources:
- http://web.linix.ca/pedia/index.htm/E._D._Nixon
- Interview with E.D. Nixon, conducted by Blackside, Inc. in 1979, for Eyes on the Prize: America's Civil Rights Years (1954-1965). Washington University Libraries, Film and Media Archive, Henry Hampton Collection.
- http://www.stanford.edu/group/King/publications/papers/vol4/580306-001-To_E.D._NIxon.htm