The family of Benjamin Swan says the civil rights champion and cornerstone in Springfield politics died peacefully Monday morning.
For over 20 years, he represented the 11th Hampden District in the Massachusetts House of Representatives before opting not to run again in 2016.
“To have been elected and to have served the residents of the 11th Hampden district has been the greatest honor of my life,” he said during a press conference held at the time.
Known as a fierce community advocate, his activism can be traced back to the Civil Rights Movement, including three weeks in Alabama in 1965, during the height of the civil rights fight.
Speaking with WAMC's Paul Tuthill 60 years later in 2015, the then-lawmaker was modest about his role at the time, fighting for the end of segregation.
“I wish I could have done more - I wish what I did do would have been more effective, [that] it would have achieved more,” he said. “But I'm proud that I didn't sit on the sideline.”
Swan went on to become president of the Greater Springfield, Massachusetts, chapter of the NAACP, a role currently filled by Bishop Talbert Swan II, his nephew.
A constant advocate for criminal justice reform in the state, he also routinely secured funding for local social service agencies.
Benjamin Swan was 92 years old.
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A full, 2025 interview with Benjamin Swan recorded by Focus Springfield, can be found here:
