Gibson, Truman K., Jr. 1912–

(Truman Kella Gibson, Jr.)

PERSONAL: Born January 22, 1912, in Atlanta GA; son of Truman Kella (a businessman and educator) and Alberta (Dickerson) Gibson; married Isabelle Carson (a social worker), February 9, 1939; children: Karen Isabelle. Education: University of Chicago, B.Phil., 1932, J.D., 1935.

ADDRESSES: Agent—c/o Author Mail, Northwestern University Press, 629 Noyes St., Evanston, IL 60208-4210.

CAREER: Practiced law in Chicago, IL, 1935–40; Office of the U.S. Secretary of War, 1940–45, began as assistant to civilian aide William H. Hastie, became civilian aide; private practice of law, 1945. Boxing promoter, 1940s–60s. Appointed to U.S. President Harry S Truman's Advisory Committee on Universal Military Training, 1946, and Committee on Religion and Welfare in the Armed Forces, 1948; attorney in Hyde Park, IL. Affiliated with School for Automotive Trades, Chicago; National Boxing Enterprises, Chicago, director, 1959; International Boxing Club, secretary; Supreme Life Insurance Company, director and executive committee member; Chicago Land Clearance Commission, secretary; served on boards of directors of Chicago Community Fund and Roosevelt College.

AWARDS, HONORS: Medal of Merit Award for Civilians, President Harry S. Truman, 1947.

WRITINGS:

(With Lestre Brownlee and Michael Reuben) The Lord Is My Shepherd (juvenile), Children's Press (Chicago, IL), 1970.

(With Steve Huntley) Knocking down Barriers: My Fight for Black America: A Memoir, Northwestern University Press (Evanston, IL), 2005.

Papers of Truman K. Gibson, ca. 1900–1994 (Bulk 1940–1956), a collection of the correspondence, memoranda, newspaper clippings, printed matter, photographs, and other papers pertaining to the Gibson family, including Gibson's letters to his wife, is held by the Library of Congress.

SIDELIGHTS: Truman K. Gibson, Jr., is known for his dual careers in law and boxing. He fought against the racial segregation of soldiers during World War II and was appointed to two commissions by U.S. President Harry S Truman. As a boxing promoter, Gibson represented a number of fighters, including the great heavyweight champion Joe Louis, and as a lawyer, he assisted him with his financial difficulties. Gibson was the first black boxing promoter and secretary of the International Boxing Club. As a lawyer, he fought restrictive housing covenants through a number of cases.

Gibson wrote his autobiography Knocking down Barriers: My Fight for Black America: A Memoir with journalist Steve Huntley. Gibson writes that as a member of the unofficial "Black Cabinet," it was necessary for him to repress criticism of the still-existing Jim Crow attitudes as he lobbied for black rights. His position in the administration also created friction with civil rights leaders. Because of his unique participation in politics, as a civil rights proponent, and as a representative of the U.S. Army, he was in contact with such historic figures as George Patton, Thurgood Marshall, and W.E.B. DuBois.

A Publishers Weekly reviewer noted that much of the volume focuses on Gibson's efforts to integrate the military. "Gibson offers a veritable history of the black soldier, jam-packed with rich and revealing details of humiliation and heroism." It was during this period that he first met Louis, while organizing visits to the troops by a number of boxers. Library Journal contributor Thomas J. Davis wrote that this fifty-year memoir "belongs in collections on biography, black America, and the U.S. military."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Gibson, Truman K., Jr., and Steve Huntley, Knocking down Barriers: My Fight for Black America: A Memoir, Northwestern University Press (Evanston, IL), 2005.

Greene, Robert Ewell, Black Defenders of America 1775–1973, Johnson Publishing Co. (Chicago, IL), 1964.

Mead, Chris, Champion—Joe Louis: Black Hero in White America, Charles Scribner's Sons (New York, NY), 1985.

Notable Black American Men, Thomson Gale (Detroit, MI), 1998.

PERIODICALS

Booklist, July, 2005, Vernon Ford, review of Knocking down Barriers, p. 1882.

Jet, August 13, 2001, "Truman Gibson Saluted," p. 10.

Library Journal, June 1, 2005, Thomas J. Davis, review of Knocking down Barriers, p. 141.

Publishers Weekly, June 13, 2005, review of Knocking down Barriers, p. 46.