Steven Fred Lawson (born June 14, 1945) is a noted historian of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States.
Born in the Bronx, New York, he is the son of Ceil Parker Lawson, a housewife, and Murray Lawson, a retail hardware clerk.
He had a sister, Lona Lawson Mirchin, who died in 2004.
After teaching at various colleges and universities for forty years, he is now retired, works as an independent scholar, and shares a home in New Jersey with his wife Nancy A.
Hewitt and their miniature poodle, Scooter (named after 1950s New York Yankees star and broadcaster Phil Rizzuto).