by Shawn Nowlin
It took way longer than some would have preferred, but the late Reuben Lawson, a renowned lawyer who helped desegregate numerous schools throughout the Commonwealth, now has a federal building named after him.
For more than five decades, Roanoke’s courthouse and federal building was named after Richard Poff. While some consider the judge who worked in Virginia’s Supreme Court to be a transcendent historical figure, many others believe that his track record on racial integration and civil rights speaks for itself.
Someone who is of the latter belief is John Fishwick of Fishwick & Associates. It was his advocacy that laid the foundation for what happened on August 1 – 210 Franklin Road officially being named the Reuben E. Lawson Building.
“Two years ago, I, Reverend Edward R. Burton and others started the process of renaming the Roanoke Federal Court Building. Reuben Lawson brought legal cases that resulted in the integration of the schools in Grayson County, Floyd County, Pulaski County, Lynchburg City, Roanoke City and Roanoke County,” Fishwick wrote on his Facebook page.
He continued, “There are a number of organizations who supported this grassroots effort, including but not limited to, Roanoke City Council, Roanoke Ministers Conference, Roanoke Chapter of NAACP and the Roanoke Chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.”
Burton, 98, worked closely with Lawson when he served in the Roanoke Branch of the NAACP. “It’s hard to put into words what this moment means to me. I’ve seen so many changes over the years,” he said. “This is a climax of the changes that I have seen happen right here in the Roanoke Valley.”
Numerous hurdles had to be jumped over for this moment to happen.
After Senators Tim Kaine and Mark Warner (both D-VA) introduced the bill, Congressman Ben Cline (R) spearheaded the effort in the House of Representatives. In late 2024, legislation authorizing the name change was signed by President Joe Biden.
The first time that Jim Morrow drove by the building on his way to work, he parked his vehicle and got out so he could take a picture. “I think it’s really cool that the building is less than a mile apart from the Henrietta Lacks statue,” he said. “As the announcement was happening, I found myself overwhelmed with emotion.”
Lawson died young, at 43, in 1963. Continuing the legacy of the civil rights icon is his son, Reuben Lawson Jr.
