Levison, Stanley (1912–1979)

Levison was an attorney, supporter, and friend of Martin Luther King Jr. A Jewish lawyer from New York City, he met Dr. King while raising funds for the Montgomery bus boycott, and in 1956 helped conceive the organization that became the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. He worked closely with Dr. King, drafting speeches, managing papers, and editing Stride Toward Freedom. Eventually, the FBI used Levison’s suspected communism to justify surveillance on Dr. King himself.