Bond, Julian (1940-2015), was an African American civil rights leader. He served as chairman of the board of directors of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) from 1998 to 2010. Before becoming board chairman, Bond had fought for civil rights in a variety of roles, including those of student protester, Georgia state legislator, and university professor.
Horace Julian Bond was born on Jan. 14, 1940, in Nashville. In 1960, he helped found the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). He served as its communications director from 1961 to 1966. From 1960 to 1963, he led student protests against segregation in public facilities.
From 1965 to 1975, Bond served as a Democratic member of the Georgia House of Representatives. After his election to the House, the members at first refused to seat him. They said they objected to his opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War (1957-1975). In 1966, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that the House had denied Bond freedom of speech and must seat him.
At the 1968 Democratic National Convention, Bond led a group that challenged the seating of the Georgia delegation appointed by Governor Lester G. Maddox. The dispute was settled by giving each of the two delegations half of Georgia’s votes.
Bond graduated from Morehouse College in Atlanta in 1971. That same year, he helped found the Southern Poverty Law Center. He was the organization’s president from 1971 to 1979. The center works through the courts to protect the legal rights of poor people of all races.
From 1975 to 1987, Bond served in the Georgia Senate. He resigned from the Senate to run for election to the U.S. House of Representatives but was defeated by civil rights leader John Lewis. In the 1980’s and 1990’s, Bond taught at several universities, including American, Drexel, and Harvard universities and the University of Virginia. In 2009, he won the Spingarn Medal , the highest honor given by the NAACP. He died on Aug. 15, 2015.
