Clan STEVERSON pre-dates William the Conquer.

CLAN MOTTO

(Sub libertate quietum){Rest under liberty}







ORIGIN OF NAME
The ruins of tall craggy towers and castles are still scattered along the Scottish/English border, home to the notable surname STEVERSON. This clan's ancient history is closely woven into the fabric of the border chronicles.
Through diligent research among some of the most ancient manuscripts, such as, the Exchequer Rolls of Scotland, the Inquisitio, the Ragman Rolls, the Domesday Book, baptismals, parish records, tax records and cartularies researchers have found the first record of the name STEVERSON, in Northumberland where they were seated from very ancient times, some say before the Norman Conquest in 1066 of William the Conqueror.
The name, STEVERSON, occurred in many references, and from time to time, it was spelt Stevenson, Stephenson, Stephinson, Stevenston, Steenson, Stenson, Steinson, Stinson, as well as other ways. Scribes and church officials spelt the name as it sounded, and frequently the spelling changed even during the person's own lifetime.
The family name STEVERSON is believed to be descended from the Boernicians, an ancient founding race of the English/Scottish border dating from about th eyear 400 A. D.. The border was also home to Clans, such as, the Sturdy Armstrongs, the Gallant Grahams, the Saucy Scotts, the Angry Kerrs, the Bells, the Nixons, the Famous Dicksons, the Bold Rutherfords, and the Pudding Somervilles.

CLAN WARS.
From these war-like clans of the border the surname STEVERSON was found in Northumberland, where they were anciently seated at Knaresdale Hall, and at Newcastle on Tyne. By 1150 they had moved north to Scottland in the parish of Newlands in Peebleshire, where Stevene Steverson rendered homage, along with his kinsman, John, to King Edward I of England on his brief conquest of Scotland in 1296. The name north and south of the border at this time was spelled with a "ph" and "v", alternately. Branches of the name appeared in Scotland in Brechin, Glasgow, Edinburg, and Irvine, and south of the border in Middlesex, Lincoln, Derbyshire, and Cumberland. Sir William Stevenson was Lord Mayor of London in 1764. George Stephenson, the inventor of the locomotive, was of Scottish parentage; but, the main stem of the family remained in the north east of England and southern Scotland. In Scotland there was a small group in the Glasgow and Pestwick area which corrupted he name of Stenson and Steenson and Steinson form about the year 1455 onwards. Their present family seats are at Bolton Old Hall, Westow, Hassop, Hall, Park Grange, Playford Mount, and Braidwood. Notable among the family name during the early history was Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson, distinguished author, born in Edinburg, whose works include "Treasure Island", "Kidnapped", and many more, 1850-1894.

Clan fueds became so intense that in 1246 A.D., six Chiefs from the Scottish side and six from the English side met at Carlisle and created a set of laws acceptable to the border territory and its people. These were unlike any laws prevailing in England or Scotland or, for that matter, anywhere else in the world. For refusal of assistance when called,a person could be hanged on the instant, without a trial. When clans were on the "hot trod" to recover stolen property (from which we get the modern expression "hot to trot"), they were protected from almost all eventualities.
When the Crown of England and Scotland were united under James VI of Scotland in 1603 the Border Clans were dispersed to England, northern Scotland and to Ireland. Some were banished directly to the (American) Colonies.

CLAN LOCATION.
In Ireland they were granted lands previously held the Catholic Irish. They signed as "Undertaking" to remain Protestant and faith to the Crown. In Ireland the name assumed the variance of Steenson and Stinson, and they settled in County Limerick, and were prominent patrons of Gaelic literature.
The New World beckoned settlers from Ireland (who would come to be known as the Scotch/Irish), as well as from the Old Country. The sailed aboard the armada of sailing ships known as the "White Sails" which plied the stormy Atlantic. Some called them, less romantically, the "coffin ships". Among the early settlers bearing the STEVERSON surname who came to North America were: Joseph Stephenson, who settled in Argentia, Newfoundland, in 1730; William and Mathew Stevenson, who settled in Harbour Grace, Newfoundland, in 1760; Andrew Stevenson, who settled in Charlestown, Mass., in 1630; Richard Stevenson, who settled in the Barbados in 1654; Robert Stevenson, who settled in Boston, Mass., in 1763; Christian and Anne Stephenson, who settled in Virginia, in 1637; Thomas Stephenson, who settled in Maryland , in 1774; John Steenson, who settled in Charles Town, S.C. in 1767; David, Hugh, James, John, Robert, Thomas, and William Stinson , who all arrived in Pennsylvania from 1844 to 1857.
In America these pioneers became the nucleus of the first settlements from Maine to the Cumberland Gap, and from Nova Scotia to the Prairies.
In more recent times, many of the family named STEVERSON have achieved prominence: among them were; Sir Francis Stephenson; Edgar Stephenson, Archdeacon; Professor Gordon Stephenson, Architect; Colonel Sir Henry Stephenson; Jim Stephenson, Recorder; Sir Percy Stephenson; Sir William Stephenson, Canadian Author; Dr. Alan Stevenson, Researcher; Sir Aubrey Stevenson; Dr. Derek Stevenson; Dame Hilda Stevenson; Air Marshall Leigh Stevenson; Sir Matthew Stevenson; Senator Ted Stevens: Sir Ralph Stevenson; Todd Anthony Steverson, professional baseball player for Detroit and San Diego; Judge London Steverson; Justin Adlai Steverson, professional bodybuilder and stage actor; Dame Sarah Steverson; London EuGene Livingston Steverson-II; and Adlai E. Stevenson, U.S. Presidential candidate.

Judge London Steverson
London Eugene Livingston Steverson (born March 13, 1947) was one of the first two African Americans to graduate from the United States Coast Guard Academy in 1968. Later, as chief of the newly formed Minority Recruiting Section of the United States Coast Guard (USCG), he was charged with desegregating the Coast Guard Academy by recruiting minority candidates. He retired from the Coast Guard in 1988 and in 1990 was appointed to the bench as a Federal Administrative Law Judge with the Office of Hearings and Appeals, Social Security Administration.

Early Life and Education
Steverson was born and raised in Millington, Tennessee, the oldest of three children of Jerome and Ruby Steverson. At the age of 5 he was enrolled in the E. A. Harrold elementary school in a segregated school system. He later attended the all black Woodstock High School in Memphis, Tennessee, graduating valedictorian.
A Presidential Executive Order issued by President Truman had desegregated the armed forces in 1948,[1] but the service academies were lagging in officer recruiting. President Kennedy specifically challenged the United States Coast Guard Academy to tender appointments to Black high school students. London Steverson was one of the Black student to be offered such an appointment, and when he accepted the opportunity to be part of the class of 1968, he became the second African American to enter the previously all-white military academy. On June 4, 1968 Steverson graduated from the Coast Guard Academy with a BS degree in Engineering and a commission as an ensign in the U.S. Coast Guard.
In 1974, while still a member of the Coast Guard, Steverson entered The National Law Center of The George Washington University and graduated in 1977 with a Juris Doctor of Laws Degree.

USCG Assignments.
Steverson's first duty assignment out of the Academy was in Antarctic research logistical support. In July 1968 he reported aboard the Coast Guard Cutter (CGC) Glacier [2] (WAGB-4), an icebreaker operating under the control of the U.S. Navy, and served as a deck watch officer and head of the Marine Science Department. He traveled to Antarctica during two patrols from July 1968 to August 1969, supporting the research operations of the National Science Foundation's Antarctic Research Project in and around McMurdo Station. During the 1969 patrol the CGC Glacier responded to an international distress call from the Argentine icebreaker General SanMartin, which they freed.
He received another military assignment from 1970 to 1972 in Juneau, Alaska as a Search and Rescue Officer. Before being certified as an Operations Duty Officer, it was necessary to become thoroughly familiar with the geography and topography of the Alaskan remote sites. Along with his office mate, Ltjg Herbert Claiborne "Bertie" Pell, the son of Rhode Island Senator Claiborne Pell, Steverson was sent on a familiarization tour of Coast Guard, Navy and Air Force bases. The bases visited were Base Kodiak, Base Adak Island, and Attu Island, in the Aleutian Islands.[3]
Steverson was the Duty Officer on September 4, 1971 when an emergency call was received that an Alaska Airlines Boeing 727 airline passenger plane was overdue at Juneau airport. This was a Saturday and the weather was foggy with drizzling rain. Visibility was less than one-quarter mile. The 727 was en route to Seattle, Washington from Anchorage, Alaska with a scheduled stop in Juneau. There were 109 people on board and there were no survivors. Steverson received the initial alert message and began the coordination of the search and rescue effort. In a matter of hours the wreckage from the plane, with no survivors, was located on the side of a mountain about five miles from the airport. For several weeks the body parts were collected and reassembled in a staging area in the National Guard Armory only a few blocks from the Search and Rescue Center where Steverson first received the distress broadcast.[4]. Later a full investigation with the National Transportation Safety Board determined that the cause of the accident was equipment failure.[5]
Another noteworthy item is Steverson's involvement as an Operations Officer during the seizure of two Russian fishing vessels, the Kolevan and the Lamut for violating an international agreement prohibiting foreign vessels from fishing in United States territorial waters. The initial attempts at seizing the Russian vessels almost precipitated an international incident when the Russian vessels refused to proceed to a U. S. port, and instead sailed toward the Kamchatka Peninsula. Russian MIG fighter planes were scrambled, as well as American fighter planes from Elmendorf Air Force Base before the Russian vessels changed course and steamed back
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Fereral Admin Law Judge appointed by Pres. George Bush, Senior.

(Only when you have worked alone--when you have felt around you a black gulf of solitude more isolating than that which surrounds the dying man, and in hope and despair have trusted to your own unshaken will--then only will you have achieved. Thus only can you gain the secret isolated joy of the thinker, who knows that, a hundred years after he is dead and forgotten, men who never heard of him will be moving to the measure of his thought--the subtle rapture of a postponed power, which the world knows not because it has no external trappings, but which to his prophetic vision is more real than that which commands an army. (Oliver Wendell Holmes 2/17/1886))








LT London Steverson next worked as a Law Specialist in the 12th Coast Guard District Office, 630 Sansome Street, San Francisco, California and as an Assistant U. S. Attorney for the collection of Civil Penalties under the Federal Boating Safety Act from 1979 to 1982. In July 1982 he became the Chief of the Investigating Division at the Marine Inspection Office New York, NY. In 1986 he was detailed to the National Narcotics Border Interdiction System under the Office of Vice President at the time, [[George Herbert Walker Bush]].

When he retired in June 1988 he became the first African-American Coast Guard Academy graduate to retire as a regular line office from the service, and held the rank of Lieutenant-Commander during his last 10 years of service.




He retired to Dumont, New Jersey and practiced law in New York, with a focus on family law and defending Coast Guardsmen accused of federal crimes. He is a member of the New York State, [[Association of the Bar of the City of New York|New York City]], and Tennessee [[Bar Association]]s.

In July 1990 he was appointed a federal administrative law judge by President [[George W. Bush]]. He was assigned to the Ninth Region of the Social Security Office of Hearings and Appeals in California.





(Judge L. Steverson and Mayor Ric Trejo of Downey, California)


(Judge L. Steverson and Los Angeles County Supervisor, Don Knabe)


(Judge L. Steverson and Sir Sven Wahlroos, Knight First Order, Government of Finland)


(Judge L. Steverson and Admiral Manson Brown, new Coast Guard Commander for 14th District Honolulu, Hawaii.)


(Judge L. steverson, President of the Downey Sister City Association, represents City of Downey, California in Guadalajara, Mexico. Judge Steverson accepts State gifts from Mayor Francisco Javier Ramirez-Acuna, next Governor of Jalisco, Mexico)


Judge L. Steverson, with Augustin Perez and mayor francisco Javier Ramirez-Acuna, of guadalajara, Mexico after a visit to the Jose Cuervo plantation and brewery in Taquila, Mexico.)


(Judge L. Steverson with the Director of the Department of Infants and Families(DIF) in Guadalajara, Mexico after a tour of the facilities. A sizeable cash donation was presented, and 27 orphans were adopted and sponsored by individual members of the Downey Sister City Association. Judge Steverson organized a Padrinos Program to allow members to adopt and sponsor orphans.)


(Judge L. Steverson and the Mexican orphan that he sponsored at the Guadalajara DIF)

(Judge L. Steverson with Mayor Jorge Antonio Catalán Sosa , of Ensenada and family on Mexican Independence Day.)


(Judge L. Steverson, President of Downey Sister City Association, and Mayor Jorge Antonio Catalan Sosa, in Downey, California for the signing of a new Sister City Agrement.)


(Judge L. Steverson and Morris Dees, Director of The Southern Poverty Law Center, at his Civil Rights Memorial.)

(Judge L. Steverson, a 19 year member of the Downey Chamber of Commerce, presents award to new Chamber member. Left-to-right, are Jennifer DeKays, owner of Downey Patriot newspaper, Faye Campbell, Chamber Ambassador, George Ramirez, Steve Allen, Betty Monroy, and Judge Steverson.)


(Judge L. Steverson, Religious Liberty Leader for Hollydale Church, chats with special guest speaker.)


(Judge L. Steverson, a member of the Downey Chamber of Commerce, at a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the opening of a new Downey business.)

(Judge L. Steverson and Dr. Anatoly M. Sagalevitch, the man who planted the Russian flag in the seabed at the North Pole. Dr Salagevitch was at Adventurers Club of Los Angeles to be awarded Adventurer of The Year Award)



(Judge L. Steverson, Treasurer fot the Board of Directors for the Friends of Tahiti, congratulates the winner of the dance competition.)


(Judge L. Steverson and Moses Pulay, a Masai warrior from Kenya at the Adventurers Club annual Night of High Adventure.)


(Judge L. Steverson and James Michael Dorsey, white Masai, author, and whale expert at Night of High Adventure.http://www.jamesdorsey.com/)

(Judge L. Steverson, Dr. Bernard LaFayette, and Ambassador April Foley at the American Corner.)


(Judge L. Steverson and Director of the American Corner)


(The Steverson Collection at the American Corner)



(Judge L. Steverson at the American Corner, Debrecen, Hungary)


(Judge L. Steverson and the Steverson Collection at the American Corner, Budapest, Hungary)


(Judge L. Steverson and the Director of the American Corner, Veszprem, Hungary.)


(JUDGE LONDON STEVERSON RECEIVED STATE DEPARTMENT CULTURAL DIPLOMACY AWARD
The Cultural Diplomacy Award was given to Judge Steverson in April 2009 by the United States Ambassador to Hungary for helping create "a foundation of trust" with the people, which can be built on to reach political, economic, and military agreements; and that combats the notion that Americans are shallow, violent, and godless. He helped to affirm that Americans have such values as family, faith, and the desire for education in common with others; he helped to create a relationship with the people, which will endure beyond changes in government; he helped to reach influential members of the society, who could not be reached through traditional diplomatic functions; and, he donated a large collection of used and rare English books to the American Corners of Hungary.
The State Department Cultural Diplomacy Award is designed to honor distinguished representatives of American culture whose efforts and artistry advance America's goals of mutual understanding and the deepening of friendship between the United States and others.
Since his appointment by President George H. W. Bush in 1990 as federal administrative judge to the Ninth Region of the Social Security Office of Hearings and Appeals, Judge Steverson and family have resided in Downey City, CA, where he was president of the Downey Sister City Association for seven years, and an International Peace Ambassador.)















Cultural diplomacy is the linchpin of public diplomacy; for it is in cultural activities that a nation's idea of itself is best represented. And cultural diplomacy can enhance our national security in subtle, wide-ranging, and sustainable ways. Indeed history may record that America's cultural riches played no less a role than military action in shaping our international leadership, including the war on terror. For the values embedded in our artistic and intellectual traditions form a bulwark against the forces of darkness.

The ideals of the Founding Fathers, enshrined in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Federalist Papers, and the Bill of Rights, take on new life in the vibrant traditions of American art, dance, film, jazz, and literature, which continue to inspire people the world over despite our political differences. But in the wake of the invasion of Iraq, the prisoner abuse scandal at Abu Ghraib, and the controversy over the handling of detainees at Bagram and Guantánamo Bay, America is viewed in much of the world less as a beacon of hope than as a dangerous force to be countered. This view diminishes our ability to champion freedom, democracy, and individual dignity—ideas that continue to fuel hope for oppressed peoples everywhere. The erosion of our trust and credibility within the international community must be reversed if we hope to use more than our military and economic might in the shaping of world opinion. Culture matters.


Cultural diplomacy reveals the soul of a nation, which may explain its complicated history in American political life: when our nation is at war, every tool in the diplomatic kit bag is employed, including the promotion of cultural activities. But when peace returns, culture gets short shrift, because of our traditional lack of public support for the arts. Now that we are at war again, interest in cultural diplomacy is on the rise. Perhaps this time we can create enduring structures within which to practice effective cultural diplomacy and articulate a sustaining vision of the role that culture can play in enhancing the security of this country. And if, as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice suggests, America's involvement in Iraq requires "a generational commitment," then our cultural diplomacy efforts require a similar commitment of funds, expertise, courage, and time.


Cultural diplomacy:


• Helps create "a foundation of trust" with other peoples, which policy makers can build on to reach political, economic, and military agreements;
• Encourages other peoples to give the United States the benefit of the doubt on specific policy issues or requests for collaboration, since there is a presumption of shared interests;
• Demonstrates our values, and our interest in values, and combats the popular notion that Americans are shallow, violent, and godless;
• Affirms that we have such values as family, faith, and the desire for education in common with others;
• Creates relationships with peoples, which endure beyond changes in government;
• Can reach influential members of foreign societies, who cannot be reached through traditional embassy functions;
• Provides a positive agenda for cooperation in spite of policy differences;
• Creates a neutral platform for people-to-people contact;
• Serves as a flexible, universally acceptable vehicle for rapprochement with countries where diplomatic relations have been strained or are absent;
• Is uniquely able to reach out to young people, to non-elites, to broad audiences with a much reduced language barrier;
• Fosters the growth of civil society;
• Educates Americans on the values and sensitivities of other societies, helping us to avoid gaffes and missteps;
• Counterbalances misunderstanding, hatred, and terrorism;
• Can leaven foreign internal cultural debates on the side of openness and tolerance.



Cultural diplomacy is also defined as the ample variety of public and private initiatives originating in the United States, and exported abroad with the intention of exerting influence on the cultural and political elites of other countries.
The initiative sought to create a friendly appreciation of the United States policies through the reproduction of American values, institutions and beliefs among foreign elites, including exchange programs as well as initiatives to be developed abroad, affecting the areas of education, scientific research, culture at large, professional training, public and private management, labor, military, sports, and political development, among others. Even when many of the programs were not directly managed by the us diplomatic service, I assume that it is safe to say that the us Executive had a fair knowledge of every American initiative going on in a certain country. I would add that even when more than half of the American programs abroad were privately funded by the early 1960s, the majority of them shared the Cold War objectives of the us Government, and relied heavily on public informational or political support. Furthermore, the largest private initiatives in the area of cultural diplomacy, economically speaking, were developed in close coordination with the American State Department.
The decisive intervention of President Eisenhower in favor of cultural diplomacy
after 1955 not only strengthened the initiative of the Executive but also helped
diffuse the political confrontations on the issue. President Eisenhower took the
leadership of the area when he launched the Baylor University Proposals of 1956,
which claimed for a major participation of the private sector. In addition, the President encouraged educational and private groups to open new programs that would
contemplate the immediate needs of other peoples of the world. Among other initiatives, he created “Foreign Student Day,” launched the People-to-People, and Sister City Association Program and in 1957 supported the Inter-University Committee, which exchanged students with the Soviet Union. Moreover, the government’s emphasis on technical assistance and economic aid often combined efforts with international education, as in the case of the training of foreign experts in us universities through the International Cooperation Administration (ica).Furthermore, the apparent intent of the designers of United States cultural diplomacy to put more weight on the effort in private hands may be better appreciated if we consider these actions together with President Eisenhower’s proposals, made at Baylor University on May 26, 1956. On that occasion, the President “made a plea for greater cooperation between the American people and peoples abroad, announcing ‘strong governmental action to assist foundations, universities, and other private groups desirous of increasing support for educational programs abroad”.

















(Judge and Mrs Steverson celebrate the 233rd Anniversary of America's Independence Day)


(Judge London Steverson addresses the students at Pannon University, Veszprem, Hungary during America Week on the subject "The Importance Of An Independent Judiciary" in May 2009)


(Judge London Steverson addresses the students at Pannon University, Veszprem, Hungary during Black History Week 2010 celebration on the subject Black Heroes and Why We Observe Black History Month)