Spiver Gordon
Spiver Gordon (born August 24, 1939) is an American politician and civil rights activist known for his work during the Civil Rights Movement. He grew up in Plaquemine, Louisiana, attended Southern University, and began voting rights work with the NAACP. He later became a field secretary for CORE and helped register Black voters in Louisiana and Florida. In 1963, he was arrested during a voter registration drive in Plaquemine.
Gordon took part in major civil rights events, including the 1963 March on Washington and the 1965 Selma March. From 1965 to 1968, he worked in Louisiana and Florida, helping register Black voters in places like St. Francisville and Bristol. In 1968 he moved to Eutaw, Alabama to lead the Greene County chapter of the SCLC, a role he held for many years.
His career also involved legal battles connected to voting rights. In 1984-85 he was convicted on four counts of violating absentee ballot rules, with other counts acquitted; he received a prison sentence mostly suspended. The 11th Circuit overturned the conviction in 1988, saying the case appeared to target Black counties unfairly. In 1997 he was sentenced for sexual misconduct involving a 16-year-old; in 1999 he pled guilty to absentee ballot violations, serving six months in prison and losing his city council seat. He continued his activism and local work after these cases, focusing on SCLC leadership, prison ministry, a food pantry, and a youth center.
Gordon was involved in broader investigations into voting at the time, which some critics said unfairly targeted Black activists. In 2009-2010 he faced a SCLC fundraising scandal with Raleigh Trammell; the organization later split into rival boards, and a court eventually recognized the opposing board as rightful. The Fulton County District Attorney later cleared him of theft, saying the expenditures were legitimate.
In later years, Gordon remained active in Eutaw civic life. He was honored in 2013 for his civil rights work and, in 2023, the mayor of Eutaw awarded him a key to the city and declared June 11 “Spiver Gordon Day.”
He is married to Barbara, and they have a son named Kenyatta.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 11:26 (CET).