Saunders, Robert W., Sr. (Robert William), 1921-2003

found: Saunders, R.W. Bridging the gap, 2000:CIP t.p. (Robert W. Saunders) data view (Robert William Saunders; b. June 9, 1921) book title page (Robert W. Saunders, Sr.)

found: Hillsborough County Public Library Cooperative WWW site, Mar. 28, 2018(Robert W. Saunders, Sr. was born on June 9, 1921, in the area of West Tampa known as Roberts City. He attended Bethune-Cookman College in Daytona Beach and after military service completed a BA degree at the Detroit Institute of Technology before entering the University of Detroit Law School. In January of 1952 he suspended his legal studies to accept a position as Florida field director for the NAACP after the state's first field director, Harry T. Moore, was killed in a Ku Klux Klan bombing of his home. In 1966 he left his position with the NAACP to work with his friend Roy Wilkins at the U.S. Office of Equal Opportunity, serving for a decade as the chief of civil rights for the southeast region. He returned to Tampa in 1976 and directed the Office of Equal Opportunity for the Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners until his retirement in 1988. From that time until his death on 18 March 2003, he remained an active and outspoken community leader) - http://hcplc.org/thpl/history/saunders