L. Alex Wilson - The Reporter Who Wouldn’t Run

L. Alex Wilson was a fearless reporter whose writing and actions challenged racism and helped shape the fight for civil rights.

Lucious Alexander Wilson, known as Alex Wilson, showed determination from an early age. Growing up in Florida, he often came home from school and disappeared into his room, where his mother would find him writing for hours. As a young man, he once ran from members of the Ku Klux Klan. From that moment, he promised himself he would never run from racism again.

Wilson first worked in education, serving as an assistant principal and later a principal at high schools in north-central Florida. But his love of writing eventually drew him into journalism. He became editor and general manager of the Tri-State Defender, an African American newspaper in Memphis that was part of the Chicago Defender chain. In 1955, he led the paper’s groundbreaking coverage of the murder of Emmett Till, bringing national attention to the brutality of racism in the South. During his time at the Tri-State Defender, he also hired and mentored young journalists, including Dorothy Butler Gilliam, who later became the first African American woman reporter at the Washington Post.

By 1957, Wilson was one of the most respected voices in the Black press. That September, he and three colleagues traveled to Little Rock, Arkansas, to cover one of the biggest stories of the Civil Rights Movement: the integration of Little Rock Central High School. Just weeks earlier, nine African American students, later known as the Little Rock Nine, had tried to attend classes but were blocked by the Arkansas National Guard, acting under orders from Governor Orval Faubus. Even though the U.S. Supreme Court had already ruled in Brown v. Board of Education that school segregation was illegal, white citizens resisted fiercely. Each morning, angry mobs gathered outside the school, determined to stop integration.

On September 23, 1957, the National Guard had been pulled back, and tensions outside the school reached a breaking point as the Little Rock Nine approached the entrance. Wilson, standing tall at 6’3”, wore a neat dark suit buttoned in the middle and a wide-brimmed tan hat. As he and his colleagues walked through the hostile crowd, people shouted, punched, and kicked. His colleagues yelled for him to run, but Wilson remembered his vow, he would walk, not run.

A hard kick struck his back. His hat fell to the ground. Calmly, he bent down, picked it up, smoothed his suit, and placed the hat back on his head. The crowd grew louder. A man jumped on his back and tried to choke him. Another swung a brick into his chest. Wilson stumbled but stood tall again, hat in hand, eyes fixed forward. Then came a crushing blow to his head, likely from the brick. While Wilson absorbed the beating, the nine students managed to slip inside the school.
When the mob realized the students had entered, their anger exploded. Wilson, bruised and bleeding, made his way to his car, his coat still buttoned and his hat still on his head. The photographs of his calm dignity in the face of violence appeared in newspapers across the nation, exposing the brutality of segregationists. The very next day, President Dwight Eisenhower sent federal troops to Little Rock to protect the students.

Wilson never sought medical care after the attack. Instead, he went back to his hotel, wrote his story, and met his deadline. Soon after, he became editor of the Chicago Defender, one of the country’s most influential Black newspapers. But just three years later, in 1960, he died at only 51 years old, likely from health problems tied to the beating he endured in Little Rock.

Wilson left behind his wife, Emogene, also a journalist, and their daughter. Emogene worked tirelessly for decades to keep his memory alive. Though he is most remembered for the photograph of him calmly holding his hat amid the violence, Alex Wilson was much more. He was a gifted writer, a newspaperman who believed in truth, and a man of courage whose determination helped shape history.

References:
“L. Alex Wilson Facts for Kids.” L. Alex Wilson Facts for Kids, kids.kiddle.co/L._Alex_Wilson.
“L. Alex Wilson, Teacher, News Journalist, and Activist.” African American Registry, 28 July 2025, aaregistry.org/story/l-alex-wilson-teacher-news-journalist-and-activist/.

Key words:
Civil Rights, Justice, Courage, Perseverance, Freedom, Responsibility, Challenge Injustices, Stand Up for Your Beliefs

Explore ARTEFFECT projects about this Unsung Hero:
L. Alex Wilson Artworks