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Willard "Mike" Blystone Ransom (1916–1995) was an American lawyer, businessman, community civic leader, and a civil rights activist in Indianapolis, Indiana.[1][2] He was a leader within the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in Indiana during the early years of the civil rights movement.
Willard Ransom | |
---|---|
Born | Willard Blystone Ransom May 17, 1916 Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S. |
Died | November 7, 1995 Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S. |
Other names | Mike Ransom |
Alma mater | Talladega College, Harvard University Law School |
Occupation(s) | Lawyer, businessman, community civic leader, civil rights activist |
Spouse | Gladys Williams |
Awards | Thurgood Marshall Award (1993) |
Willard B. Ransom was born on May 17, 1916, and was the son of Freeman Ransom.[3][4][5] Ransom and his family lived much of their life in Indianapolis near Indiana Avenue, in what is now called the Ransom Place Historic District.[4] He attended Crispus Attucks High School (class of 1932) in Indianapolis.[1]
Ransom continued his education at Talladega College (class of 1936), where he was award the summa cum laude distinction; and attended Harvard University Law School where he graduated with a J.D. degree (1939).[1] Shortly after he passed the bar exam.[6]
He married Gladys Williams.[3]
In 1941 he worked for two months as an assistant attorney general, before he was inducted into the United States Army during World War II.[1] Ransom trained to be a pilot at Edgewood Arsenal, and then was relocated to Tuskegee Army Airfield (now Sharpe Field) where he worked in the chemical warfare division. He also served the U.S. Army overseas.[1] When he returned to Indianapolis after his service, Ransom became more aware of discrimination.[1]
Ransom reorganized the Indiana state chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).[1] He served as the NAACP president for five terms during the late 1940s and early 1950s.[3] In the late 1950s, he led direct action protests, sit-ins and marches for the civil rights movement.[1] In 1957, Mahala Ashley Dickerson, Charles Preston, and Ransom held an event in which they screened the documentary "Walk to Freedom" and led a panel discussion on the Montgomery bus boycott.[1]
He was assistant manager of Madame C. J. Walker Manufacturing Company, a cosmetics manufacturer, from 1947 to 1954; and later served as a general manager.[1] Ransom also had a private legal practice.[3] In 1993, Ransom received the Thurgood Marshall Award by the American Bar Association as a recognition of his contributions to the civil rights movement.[3]
Before his death he worked at the law firm of 'Bamberger and Feibleman'.[3] Ransom died on November 7, 1995.[3][7] The Ransom Family Papers (1912–2011) are archived at the Indiana Historical Society.[8]