Rupert Richardson

Rupert Florence Richardson (January 14, 1930 – January 24, 2008) was an American civil rights activist and civil rights leader who served as the national president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) from 1992 to 1995, and as the national president emeritus of the NAACP following her term as president. She also worked in the Louisiana state government for 30 years.

Early and personal life Rupert Florence Richardson was born on January 14, 1930, in Navasota, Texas, to Albert S. Richardson and Mary Samuels Richardson. She was raised in Lake Charles, Louisiana, where her family moved to shortly after her birth, and attended public schools there. She married James A. Clemons Jr. of Lake Charles, Louisiana, and the couple had eight children. In 1952 Richardson received a Bachelor of Science from Southern University (Baton Rouge), becoming a second-generation college graduate after her mother.

From 1999 to 2008 she chaired the NAACP's Health Committee, which she had advocated for the creation of, focusing on HIV/AIDS in the United States among minority groups. Towards the end of her life, Richardson remained active in civil rights, advocating on behalf of the Jena Six in 2006 and 2007.

The award winners are as follows:

Mr. Derrick L. Foward, President, Dayton Branch NAACP – 2013

Mr. Nelson Linder, President, Austin NAACP – 2012

Attorney Danatus N. King Sr., President, New Orleans Branch – 2011

Ms. Dot Scott, President, Charleston Branch NAACP – 2009

Death On January 24, 2008, Richardson died in Baton Rouge.

Family

Through Richardson's father, Richardson was a first cousin of Norma Holloway Johnson, a former United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia and the first African-American woman to serve as Chief Judge of that United States District Court.