DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker says about Dr. Lawrence A. Nixon, standing in El Paso County.
Now, some stories start quiet and end up shaking the whole country. This is one of those. Lawrence Aaron Nixon was born in 1883, in Marshall, Harrison County, Texas.
He studied at Wiley College, then went on to Meharry Medical College, and became a physician. He set up his medical practice in Cameron, Milam County — and by all accounts, he was exactly the kind of doctor a community holds onto. But in January of 1910, Dr.
Nixon witnessed violent racial strife in that community. And he made a decision. He moved to El Paso.
His first wife, Esther, and their infant son joined him there not long after. El Paso became his home, his ground, his launching point. He became a charter member of the El Paso chapter of the NAACP.
He registered as a Democrat. And then he looked at the laws of the State of Texas — laws that flatly barred African Americans from participating in Democratic Party primary elections — and he decided those laws needed to be tested. So he stepped up to vote.
And when he was turned away, he didn't walk off quietly. He went to court. What followed was a legal journey that climbed all the way to the United States Supreme Court.
Twice. Nixon v. Herndon in 1924.
Nixon v. Condon in 1927. Two cases.
Two landmark victories. The precedent was set — that U.S. citizens could not be barred from voting based on race. Now, here's the part that stings a little in the telling.
The State of Texas found ways to circumvent those rulings for nearly two decades. Almost twenty years of maneuvering around what the highest court in the land had said. But precedent has a long memory.
In 1944 — finally, in 1944 — the principle Dr. Nixon had fought for was affirmed. And that same year, he and his second wife, Drusilla, walked in and voted in the primaries together.
Think on that a moment. Dr. Nixon kept working.
He and Drusilla continued building toward civil rights throughout their lifetimes. He was considered a visionary — a man who sought to establish an El Paso hospital for African American tubercular patients, and a cultural center for people of color. Well-loved.
Well-respected. The marker says so plainly, and those words don't get handed out for nothing. After fifty-three years of dedicated, distinguished medical practice, Dr.
Nixon retired in 1963. He lived his remaining years right there in El Paso, the city he had chosen back in 1910 when the world gave him reason to leave somewhere else. He died in 1966.
But the votes that happened because of Lawrence Aaron Nixon — those go on counting.
What the marker says
(1883-1966) Dr. Lawrence Aaron Nixon was a pivotal figure in Texas civil rights. Born in Marshall, Harrison County, Texas, he attended Wiley College and Meharry Medical College and became a physician. He began his medical practice in Cameron, Milam County. In January 1910, after witnessing violent racial strife in the community, Dr. Nixon moved to El Paso. His first wife, Esther (Calvin), and their infant son subsequently joined him here. Dr. Nixon became a charter member of the El Paso chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). As a political activist and registered Democrat, Dr. Nixon challenged state laws that barred African Americans from participation in that party's electoral primaries. In litigation that ultimately went before the U.S. Supreme Court in Nixon v. Herndon (1924) and Nixon v. Condon (1927), he won two landmark victories that would help secure voting rights for U.S. citizens regardless of race. The State of Texas circumvented the rulings for almost two decades, but the precedent set by Dr. Nixon was ultimately affirmed in 1944, and that year he and his second wife, Drusilla (Tandy), voted in the primaries. The couple continued to work toward the development of civil rights throughout their lifetimes. Well-loved and respected, Dr. Nixon was considered a visionary as he sought to establish an El Paso hospital for African American tubercular patients and a cultural center for people of color. After 53 years of dedicated, distinguished medical practice, Dr. Nixon retired in 1963 and lived his remaining years in El Paso. (2005)