Truman Gibson
*Truman Gibson was born on this date in 1912. He was a Black businessman, attorney, government advisor, and boxing promoter.
Truman Kella Gibson, Jr., the son of an insurance executive, was born in Atlanta, Georgia. While still young, he moved with his family to Columbus, Ohio. He graduated from the University of Chicago in 1932 and obtained a degree from its law school in 1935. From 1935 to 1940, Gibson practiced law in Chicago. During this time, he helped organize Chicago's American Negro Exposition in 1940, marking the 75th anniversary of emancipation.
Gibson's experience with the exposition drew the attention of progressives within the federal government. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt created the post of civilian aide to the Secretary of War to speak on behalf of Black men in the Army. In 1940, Gibson assisted this newly named adviser, William H. Hastie. Gibson's tasks included investigating complaints from Black soldiers facing indignities. Once, Gibson was instrumental in obtaining a decision for several Black Officer Candidate School candidates from Fort Riley, KS, whose OCS applications were delayed for several months. Joe Louis, then assigned to Fort Riley for basic training, who had known Gibson in Chicago, had intervened on behalf of the OCS candidates. Among the OCS applications Gibson facilitated was that of a young Jackie Robinson.
In 1943, Gibson became Chief Civilian Advisor to Secretary Stimson. One of Gibson's greatest contributions as a civilian aide was administering the creation of the 1944 war propaganda film, The Negro Soldier, which portrayed Black men as brave, intelligent, and patriotic. Gibson was awarded the Legion of Merit for this and other service 1945. In 1946, Gibson was named to President Harry S. Truman's nine-member civilian commission studying the future of universal military training; he was the panel's only Black member. In May 1947, when it issued its report, the commission urged an end to segregation in the military. Fourteen months later, Truman issued Executive Order 9981, which led to the desegregation of the armed forces. Gibson returned to private law practice in Chicago after the war.
In 1949, Gibson was director and secretary of Joe Louis Enterprises and entered the world of professional boxing as a manager and promoter. He became secretary and later president of the International Boxing Club (IBC), which promoted important title fights and arranged national television coverage during the 1950s. In 1959, Gibson became one of the three original directors of the Chicago-based National Boxing Enterprises, which brought the Friday night fights to television. However, legal troubles caused the IBC to dissolve after the Supreme Court ruled in 1959 that it had violated antitrust law. Two years later, Gibson and four co-defendants were convicted in federal court of conspiracy and extortion to siphon off earnings from the welterweight champion Don Jordan. Gibson was sentenced to five years' probation and fined.
By the early 1960s, Gibson abandoned boxing and went into private practice. Over the years, he worked with the School for Automotive Trades in Chicago and acted as the Chicago Land Clearance Commission secretary. He served on the boards of directors of the Chicago Community Fund and Roosevelt University and remained a Cook County Bar Association member. Gibson played a unique and unheralded role in Civil Rights, primarily as a member of the "Black Cabinet" of Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman. He continued to reside in Chicago and practiced law until his death on December 23, 2005.
