William Gibson
This date celebrates the 1933 birth of Dr. William F. Gibson, a Black dentist and community activist.
He was born in Greenville, SC, and he is the son of a brick mason and a schoolteacher. He became a dentist at Harlem Hospital in New York before returning to his hometown in 1959. In 1961, while attending a voter registration meeting at Springfield Baptist Church, he decided to devote his life to civil rights. He organized the Black Council for Progress, which helped get Blacks into local and state political offices during the 1970s.
Gibson's commitment to voters' rights continued through his 1985 NAACP national board chairman election. Gibson took the NAACP differently during his tenure as chairman in the 1980s and 1990s. His work was centered on the principle that blacks become more actively involved in the nation's economy. Yet Gibson’s term as chairman of the NAACP was marred by allegations of abusing his expense account to contribute to the group's $3-million-plus deficit.
Gibson's role there ended in 1995 when he was forced out by one vote and replaced by Myrlie Evers-Williams. Although Gibson said he could account for nearly all the $111,930 in question as NAACP business, his 10-year tenure was also hampered by complaints about declining corporate donations and membership.
William Gibson died May 2, 2002, in Greenville, SC.
