Minister

Marital Status

Married

Middle Name

Occupation

Student Interracial Ministry

Organizations

Richmond Urban League

Interfaith Metropolitan Education, Inc.

Schools

Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School

Union Theological Seminary

Washington High School

Virginia Commonwealth University

School of Medicine

First Name

James

Birth City, State, Country

Burgaw

HM ID

FOR15

Favorite Season

Autumn

State

North Carolina

THM DA Link

http://marc.thehistorymakers.org/thmdigital/A2016.046.htm

Web Clip 1

https://thmdaprodmedia.blob.core.windows.net/media/story/video/664424

Favorite Vacation Destination

None

Favorite Quote

All Things Work Together For Good.

Bio Photo

Speakers Bureau Region State

New York

Birth Date

9/6/1935

Birth Place Term

Burgaw

Speakers Bureau Region City

New York

Country

United States

Favorite Food

Chicken

Short Description

Reverend Dr. James A. Forbes (1935 - ) served as the fifth senior minister of Riverside Church in New York City from 1989 to 2007, making him the first African American Senior Minister of one of the largest multicultural and interdenominational churches in the United States.

Employment

Kittrell College

Olin T. Binkly Memorial Baptist Church

St. John’s United Holy Church

Virginia Union University

Union Theological Seminary

Riverside Church

Drum Major Institute

Favorite Color

Brown

Web Clip 2

https://thmdaprodmedia.blob.core.windows.net/media/story/video/664458

Timing Pairs

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DAStories

Tape: 1 Story: 1 - Slating of Reverend Dr. James A. Forbes, Jr.'s interview

Tape: 1 Story: 2 - Reverend Dr. James A. Forbes, Jr. lists his favorites

Tape: 1 Story: 3 - Reverend Dr. James A. Forbes, Jr. describes Stokes, North Carolina

Tape: 1 Story: 4 - Reverend Dr. James A. Forbes, Jr. remembers harvesting tobacco, pt. 1

Tape: 1 Story: 5 - Reverend Dr. James A. Forbes, Jr. remembers harvesting tobacco, pt. 2

Tape: 1 Story: 6 - Reverend Dr. James A. Forbes, Jr. describes his maternal grandfather's house

Tape: 1 Story: 7 - Reverend Dr. James A. Forbes, Jr. talks about his paternal grandfather's disappearance

Tape: 1 Story: 8 - Reverend Dr. James A. Forbes, Jr. describes his father's education and occupations

Tape: 1 Story: 9 - Reverend Dr. James A. Forbes, Jr. talks about his paternal family history

Tape: 1 Story: 10 - Reverend Dr. James A. Forbes, Jr. recalls how his parents met

Tape: 1 Story: 11 - Reverend Dr. James A. Forbes, Jr. describes his siblings, pt. 1

Tape: 2 Story: 1 - Reverend Dr. James A. Forbes, Jr. describes his siblings, pt. 2

Tape: 2 Story: 2 - Reverend Dr. James A. Forbes, Jr. recalls his parents' emphasis on education

Tape: 2 Story: 3 - Reverend Dr. James A. Forbes, Jr. describes his siblings, pt. 3

Tape: 2 Story: 4 - Reverend Dr. James A. Forbes, Jr. recalls his decision to attend Howard University in Washington, D.C.

Tape: 2 Story: 5 - Reverend Dr. James A. Forbes, Jr. describes his earliest childhood memory

Tape: 2 Story: 6 - Reverend Dr. James A. Forbes, Jr. describes the sights, sounds and smells of his childhood

Tape: 2 Story: 7 - Reverend Dr. James A. Forbes, Jr. remembers segregation in North Carolina

Tape: 2 Story: 8 - Reverend Dr. James A. Forbes, Jr. recalls eating at an integrated lunch counter

Tape: 2 Story: 9 - Reverend Dr. James A. Forbes, Jr. remembers his response to racism

Tape: 2 Story: 10 - Reverend Dr. James A. Forbes, Jr. recalls his arrival at Howard University

Tape: 3 Story: 1 - Reverend Dr. James A. Forbes, Jr. describes his activities at Howard University in Washington, D.C.

Tape: 3 Story: 2 - Reverend Dr. James A. Forbes, Jr. recalls his call to ministry

Tape: 3 Story: 3 - Reverend Dr. James A. Forbes, Jr. remembers attending Union Theological Seminary in New York City

Tape: 3 Story: 4 - Reverend Dr. James A. Forbes, Jr. describes his approach to Pentecostalism

Tape: 3 Story: 5 - Reverend Dr. James A. Forbes, Jr. recalls his early interdenominational work

Tape: 3 Story: 6 - Reverend Dr. James A. Forbes, Jr. describes his father's approach to religion

Tape: 3 Story: 7 - Reverend Dr. James A. Forbes, Jr. recalls pastoring at Olin T. Binkley Memorial Baptist Church in Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Tape: 3 Story: 8 - Reverend Dr. James A. Forbes, Jr. remembers the social climate of Richmond, Virginia

Tape: 4 Story: 1 - Reverend Dr. James A. Forbes, Jr. describes his civic involvement in Richmond, Virginia

Tape: 4 Story: 2 - Reverend Dr. James A. Forbes, Jr. talks about making a living as a minister

Tape: 4 Story: 3 - Reverend Dr. James A. Forbes, Jr. recalls Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s assassination

Tape: 4 Story: 4 - Reverend Dr. James A. Forbes, Jr. talks about black theology

Tape: 4 Story: 5 - Reverend Dr. James A. Forbes, Jr. recalls working at Interfaith Metropolitan Education, Inc. in Washington, D.C.

Tape: 4 Story: 6 - Reverend Dr. James A. Forbes, Jr. recalls teaching at Union Theological Seminary in New York City

Tape: 4 Story: 7 - Reverend Dr. James A. Forbes, Jr. talks about the founding of the Ebony Ecumenical Ensemble

Tape: 4 Story: 8 - Reverend Dr. James A. Forbes, Jr. recalls writing 'The Holy Spirit and Preaching'

Tape: 4 Story: 9 - Reverend Dr. James A. Forbes, Jr. describes the history of Riverside Church in New York City

Tape: 5 Story: 1 - Reverend Dr. James A. Forbes, Jr. recalls becoming a senior minister at the Riverside Church in New York City

Tape: 5 Story: 2 - Reverend Dr. James A. Forbes, Jr. remembers Nelson Mandela's visit at Riverside Church

Tape: 5 Story: 3 - Reverend Dr. James A. Forbes, Jr. describes the Riverside Church's history of inclusion

Tape: 5 Story: 4 - Reverend Dr. James A. Forbes, Jr. recalls his experiences at Riverside Church, pt. 1

Tape: 5 Story: 5 - Reverend Dr. James A. Forbes, Jr. recalls his experiences at Riverside Church, pt. 2

Tape: 5 Story: 6 - Reverend Dr. James A. Forbes, Jr. talks about founding Space for Grace

Tape: 5 Story: 7 - Reverend Dr. James A. Forbes, Jr. recalls joining the Drum Major Institute

Tape: 5 Story: 8 - Reverend Dr. James A. Forbes, Jr. describes his book, 'Whose Gospel?: A Concise Guide to Progressive Protestantism'

Tape: 5 Story: 9 - Reverend Dr. James A. Forbes, Jr. talks about his spirituality

Tape: 6 Story: 1 - Reverend Dr. James A. Forbes, Jr. reflects upon his legacy

Tape: 6 Story: 2 - Reverend Dr. James A. Forbes, Jr. shares his advice for aspiring ministers

Tape: 6 Story: 3 - Reverend Dr. James A. Forbes, Jr. reflects upon his life

Tape: 6 Story: 4 - Reverend Dr. James A. Forbes, Jr. talks about his family and shares advice for mankind

Tape: 6 Story: 5 - Reverend Dr. James A. Forbes, Jr. narrates his photographs, pt. 1

Tape: 6 Story: 6 - Reverend Dr. James A. Forbes, Jr. narrates his photographs, pt. 3

DASession

1$1

DATape

1$5

DAStory

8$4

DATitle

Reverend Dr. James A. Forbes, Jr. describes his father's education and occupations

Reverend Dr. James A. Forbes, Jr. recalls his experiences at Riverside Church, pt. 1

Transcript

At a certain age he [Forbes' father, James A. Forbes, Sr.] decided he was gonna be a preacher. So he accepted the call to ministry, and became a preacher, quite a popular preacher in North Carolina. Big problem was that he was a preacher, but if you recall the term bootleg preacher, he didn't have any education. You know, dropped out at sixth grade.$$So that's what bootleg preacher means?$$The jackleg, jackleg--$$Yeah.$$--jackleg, bootleg preacher--$$Right.$$--basically it tended to suggest that they had not been thoroughly trained for the vocation. So one of the churches said, "We really like your preaching, but if you're gonna be our preacher, you're gonna have to get some education." So, having dropped out at the sixth grade, he enrolled in high school with a correspondence course called the American School [American School of Correspondence, Lansing, Illinois], in Chicago [sic.]. And actually, I remember as a little boy, taking his lessons that he prepared at the dining room table and posting them in the mail box and also picking up his, the letters when he got his grades back. He completed high school with only having gone to sixth grade through correspondence. But he was sufficiently bright that in finishing high school by correspondents he enrolled in college at Shaw University [Raleigh, North Carolina]. At Shaw University he became, he graduated the head of his class and also decided to go further to get his, what they called then B.D. degree, bachelor of divinity, which is now called M.Div. degree, master of divinity, but he, you know, graduated at the head of the class (simultaneous).$$(Simultaneous) Do you know what time this was?$$My father might have gotten his degree from Shaw University around about 1949.$$Okay. And what work was he doing as he was preparing for the ministry?$$As he was preparing for the ministry in North Carolina, in Goldsboro, North Carolina, he had a job working at the W.T. Grants department store [sic. W.T. Grant]. He was a porter and had the responsibility, and candy salesman. This is a, this is a very important thing. My father always viewed himself as being not just a worker for somebody, so although he's a porter, and a candy salesman in a W.T. Grants department store, when the head of the store, whose name at the time was Mr. Parsons [ph.], when he announced to the staff that he had just had a little baby girl, my father made a table with four chairs, for the little baby. Now how do I know this? Because later on, years later, I'm preaching at Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church in Houston, Texas, and they put the name of the preacher over the street, kind of build it up, it's gonna be a big occasion, and a person named Mrs. Parsons came with her children and she said she heard James Forbes, she just wanted to know if I'm the James Forbes because she was the daughter for whom the table and the chairs had been made by a James Forbes and that wherever her family went they could leave anything behind, but they could never leave behind the table that James Forbes had made for her. Here's a black man to show his sense of care for his employer, a white man. He's not a worker, he's a servant of God to show love to whomever he could, but that was a fascinating thing to, to live long enough to have that circle completed.$And how did the congregation [at Riverside Church, New York, New York] accept this?$$Well, I would say the greatest issue of acceptance it seems to me was to accept the authenticity of my being who I was even if it wasn't what they had been used to. I mean, so, it was a glorious occasion for me to be inaugurated in that place, but a couple of months later, people woke up, "Oh my god, he really is black, and he is different."$$And so did you have challenges as a result of that?$$Are you kidding me? I mean it became so clear to me that in a moment of strength or weakness, people were glad that they had lived into the liberalism that they were known for, but how do you adjust to the rearrangement of the social and cultural patterns that make what's been excluded now the center, or to say it another way, they loved me every year I came. I was wonderful dessert, but what happens when dessert becomes the main course. That's a problem. I mean I was a real challenge for these people and some of them let me know that in no uncertain terms. I mean I remember one night, which was the most painful night in ministry in my life, where less than a year, there was a group got together and decided that they had had enough of Jim Forbes [HistoryMaker Reverend Dr. James A. Forbes, Jr.]. They called this meeting together and everybody knew that this was going to be a kangaroo court and that that was going to be the end of a nice little experiment in democratic leadership. At that meeting that night, it was intense that I'm sitting there and I actually really, if you can believe it, if I had had a button that I could push where I could take myself out of that situation, I would have done so. But let me tell you what happened. Earlier that day I had gone to Calvary ba- Calvary Hospital [Bronx, New York] where, visiting an old lady and when I got there I asked her daughter to ask your mother what would she like me to read. Her mother said, "Psalm 27." So I read Psalm 27. "The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell," all (unclear). Well when I got out of her room, the spirit said, "You got a big meeting tonight, and I needed to remind you that that's the text I gave you the night you accepted the call to ministry at Howard [Howard University, Washington, D.C.]. And the reason I told you that night to learn it by heart, you said 'I don't know it,' but I made you quote it," and I thought that because I was given the ability to learn it so quickly that it meant that I was gonna be blessed with phenomenal memory, and so the Lord said, "That wasn't it at all. There are situations where you're gonna need these words where you can't afford to stoop down or look down or turn around, but it's in there now, so you be aware." That night when things got so hot, the words came to my mind, it is for this reason that you learned that Psalm, now recite it. So, I'm sitting there, "(unclear) on the speaker, the previous vote," da da da da, oh, they was, it was just awful. I sat there and people who were my friends who were there says all of a sudden my countenance changed, instead of fear, they noticed that a sort of gentle assurance came across my face because what I was doing is inside myself I was quoting, "The Lord is my light and my salvation, who shall I fear. The lord is the strength of my life, (mumbling), wait on the Lord and be of good courage, he shall strengthen." That in the quoting of that God given passage in 1956, here it is 1990, yeah maybe 1990, that gave me strength. They said when my countenance changed, the tenor of the meeting changed. All of a sudden it got sane in there. In fact, at the end of the meeting, that next week I received a letter from a woman whose name was Elaine, her name Elise Higgenbottom [sic.]. She said, "I came to this meeting because I heard they were getting ready to try to oust you." She said, "But I listened to what you said about how your ministry was gonna go and I liked very much what you said. I want to support your ministry. Please find enclosed a check for fifty thousand dollars just to help you get this program moving that you talked about." Her name was not, her name was Elise Goldman. I went to her funeral a few years ago when I was preaching at Duke University [Durham, North Carolina] I heard she had died. I just went by to say, "You all don't know the encouragement from your mother helped saved a preacher's life." Again, don't count people out. She's a white woman. But again--$$And you served as senior pastor for how many years?$$Eighteen years. They thought I, they thought I was gonna be gone in one, in one year and a half, for eighteen years.

Read more about Reverend Dr. James A. Forbes, Jr.

Reverend Julie Johnson Staples

Journalist, corporate executive and minister Reverend Julie Johnson Staples was born and raised in Des Moines, Iowa. In 1978, she received her B.S. degree in journalism from the William Allen White School of Journalism and Public Information at the University of Kansas.

Johnson Staples was first hired as a reporter for regional newspapers including the Orlando Sentinel and the Baltimore Sun, where she was a White House correspondent. In the late 1980s, Johnson Staples was appointed as a White House correspondent for The New York Times. A few years later she left The New York Times to work as the Supreme Court correspondent for TIME magazine, and then as the Justice Department correspondent for ABC News.

In 1994, Johnson Staples received her J.D. degree from Georgetown University Law Center. Also in the 1990s, she worked as a visiting professor in the School of Communication, Information and Library Studies at Rutgers University. In addition, she was a guest speaker and lecturer at such prestigious institutions as Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University, and the Ford Hall Forum in Boston, Massachusetts.

In 1998, Johnson Staples was named senior managing director and director of the U.S. Media Services practice for Hill and Knowlton. In the early 2000s, she joined the private equity firm of Warburg Pincus as a vice president. She was then promoted to managing director in 2003, and was later named the first African American woman partner at Warburg Pincus.

After almost a decade at Warburg Pincus, Johnson Staples returned to school and received her M.Div. degree in Biblical Studies/Hebrew Bible from the Union Theological Seminary in 2011 and was ordained as a Congregational minister at Plymouth Church in Brooklyn, New York. In 2012, she received her Th.M. degree in Religion, Literature and Culture at Harvard Divinity School and was named interim minister for education at The Riverside Church in New York City.

Johnson Staples serves as moderator of the New York-New Jersey Regional Association of the National Association of Congregational Christian Churches (NACCC), and is a member of the NACCC national ambassador team, executive committee and board of directors. She was a fellow of the Congregational Foundation for Theological Studies and has served on the Georgetown University Law Center board of visitors; the University of Kansas Journalism School's board of trustees; the board of the Congregational Library of the Congregational Christian Historical Society in Boston, Massachusetts; and the Peace Action of New York State board of directors. Johnson Staples is also former chair of the board of directors of healthywomen.org and Changing Women's Health Naturally (P.B).

Johnson Staples is married, lives in Brooklyn, New York, and has one son.

Reverend Julie Johnson Staples was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on July 16, 2014.

Accession Number

A2014.240

Sex

Female

Interview Date

7/16/2014

Last Name

Staples

Maker Category

MediaMakers

Marital Status

Married

Middle Name

Johnson

Occupation

Journalist

Corporate Executive

New York-New Jersey Regional Association of the National Association of Congregational Christian Churches

Organizations

Congregational Foundation for Theological Studies

Georgetown University Law Center

University of Kansas Journalism School

Congregational Library of the Congregational Christian Historical Society

Peace Action of New York State

Healthywomen.org

Changing Women\'s Health Naturally (P.B)

Schools

University of Kansas

Georgetown University Law Center

Union Theological Seminary

Harvard Divinity School

Search Occupation Category

MediaMakers:Print

First Name

Julie

Birth City, State, Country

Des Moines

HM ID

STA12

State

Iowa

Bio Photo

Speakers Bureau Region State

New York

Birth Date

1/11/1957

Birth Place Term

Des Moines

Speakers Bureau Region City

New York

Country

United States

Short Description

Journalist, corporate executive, and minister Reverend Julie Johnson Staples (1957 - ) is the minister for education at The Riverside Church in New York City. Prior to being ordained a minister in 2011, she was a managing director and partner at Warburg Pincus and senior managing director for Hill and Knowlton. From 1978 to 1998, she worked as a correspondent for the Baltimore Sun, The New York Times, TIME magazine and ABC News.

Employment

Orlando Sentinel

Baltimore Sun

The New York Times

TIME Magazine

ABC News

Rutgers University

Hill and Knowlton

Warburg Pincus

Riverside Church

Read more about Reverend Julie Johnson Staples

The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan

Minister Louis Farrakhan was born on May 11, 1933 in the Bronx, New York to Sarah May and Percival Clarke. He was born Louis Eugene Walcott, but would later adopt the surname of Farrakhan after his conversion to Islam. Louis and his brother, Alvan Walcott, were raised by their mother and step-father in Boston, Massachusetts. As a youth, Farrakhan was a talented violinist and athlete. He graduated from Boston English High School and attended Winston-Salem Teacher’s College, during which time he recorded calypso albums under the name “The Charmer.” In 1953, Farrakhan married his wife, Khadijah Farrakhan (born Betsy Ross), and he dropped out of college during his senior year to assist her during her pregnancy.

After attending the annual Saviors’ Day address delivered by Elijah Muhammad, Leader of the Nation of Islam (NOI), Farrakhan decided to join the NOI in 1955. Farrakhan became minister of Muhammad’s Temple No. 11 in Boston, Massachusetts in 1956. Nine years later, he was appointed by Elijah Muhammad to serve as Minister of Muhammad’s Temple No. 7 in New York City. Farrakhan worked with the Harlem community to improve the quality of life in the neighborhood, but the decisions made by Imam W. Deen Mohammed to make the NOI resemble Sunni Islam prompted Farrakhan to gather his own supporters and rebuild the NOI based on the leading principles of Wallace Fard Muhammad and Elijah Muhammad. Farrakhan first assumed the role of Leader of the NOI in 1978.

Although at times a controversial figure, Farrakhan’s message of a unified community and the importance of reversing negative stereotypes has been the guiding principle of many of his actions. To combat the negative image of African American men often presented by the media, Farrakhan organized the Million Man March in Washington, D.C. on October 16, 1995 and the Millions More Movement ten years later. Farrakhan was voted the Person of the Year by Black Entertainment Television in 2005, and the following year, he was voted the fifth most important African American leader in the AP-AOL “Black Voices” poll.

Louis Farrakhan was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on November 29, 2010.

Accession Number

A2010.111

Sex

Male

Interview Date

11/29/2010 |and| 12/14/2010

Last Name

Farrakhan

Maker Category

Marital Status

Married

Occupation

The Charmer and His Calypso Rhythm Boys

Organizations

The Nation of Islam

Boston College orchestra

Boston Civic Symphony

People Organized and Working for Economic Rebirth (POWER)

Stop the Killing

Million Man March

Schools

Asa Gray School

Sherwin School

Boston Latin School

English High School

Winston-Salem State University

First Name

Louis

Birth City, State, Country

New York

HM ID

FAR05

Favorite Season

Spring

State

New York

THM DA Link

http://marc.thehistorymakers.org/thmdigital/A2010.111.htm

Web Clip 1

https://thmdaprodmedia.blob.core.windows.net/media/story/video/621360

Favorite Vacation Destination

None

Favorite Quote

Up You Mighty Nation, You Can Accomplish What You Will!

Bio Photo

Speakers Bureau Region State

Illinois

Birth Date

5/11/1933

Birth Place Term

New York

Speakers Bureau Region City

Chicago

Country

United States

Favorite Food

None

Short Description

Minister The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan (1933 - ) , leader of the Nation of Islam, was known for his work as an advocate of civil rights and social activism.

Employment

Temple No. 7

Temple No. 11

Guaranty Bank and Trust Company

Temple No. 2

Favorite Color

None

Web Clip 2

https://thmdaprodmedia.blob.core.windows.net/media/story/video/621412

Timing Pairs

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DAStories

Tape: 1 Story: 1 - Slating of The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan's interview

Tape: 1 Story: 2 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan lists his favorites

Tape: 1 Story: 3 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan describes his mother's early life

Tape: 1 Story: 4 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan recalls visiting his maternal grandparents in Bermuda

Tape: 1 Story: 5 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan describes his father's family background

Tape: 1 Story: 6 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan describes his mother's personality

Tape: 1 Story: 7 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan describes his brother

Tape: 1 Story: 8 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan recalls his mother's decision to move to Boston, Massachusetts

Tape: 1 Story: 9 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan describes his earliest childhood memories, pt. 1

Tape: 1 Story: 10 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan describes his earliest childhood memories, pt. 2

Tape: 1 Story: 11 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan remembers his home life, pt. 1

Tape: 1 Story: 12 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan remembers his home life, pt. 2

Tape: 2 Story: 1 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan describes the sights, sounds and smells of his childhood

Tape: 2 Story: 2 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan recalls the role of religion in his childhood

Tape: 2 Story: 3 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan remembers St. Cyprian's Episcopal Church in Boston, Massachusetts

Tape: 2 Story: 4 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan describes his childhood temperament

Tape: 2 Story: 5 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan talks about his early education

Tape: 2 Story: 6 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan describes his experiences of discrimination at the Boston Latin School

Tape: 2 Story: 7 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan remembers being falsely accused by a white teacher

Tape: 2 Story: 8 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan recalls the influence of Marcus Garvey

Tape: 3 Story: 1 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan recalls his mother's encouragement

Tape: 3 Story: 2 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan remembers being discouraged by a white teacher

Tape: 3 Story: 3 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan recalls his lack of mentorship in high school

Tape: 3 Story: 4 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan talks about the education of African American youth

Tape: 3 Story: 5 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan remembers appearing on 'The Original Amateur Hour'

Tape: 3 Story: 6 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan recalls his interests during high school

Tape: 3 Story: 7 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan talks about his West Indian heritage

Tape: 4 Story: 1 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan describes his social life

Tape: 4 Story: 2 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan recalls his early musical performances, pt. 1

Tape: 4 Story: 3 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan recalls his early musical performances, pt. 2

Tape: 4 Story: 4 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan talks about actor Harry Belafonte

Tape: 4 Story: 5 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan remembers his arrival at the Winston Salem Teachers College in Winston Salem, North Carolina

Tape: 4 Story: 6 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan recalls winning the Horace Heidt talent show

Tape: 4 Story: 7 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan recalls being denied entry into the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity

Tape: 4 Story: 8 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan talks about his experiences in the segregated South

Tape: 4 Story: 9 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan remembers his marriage, pt. 1

Tape: 4 Story: 10 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan remembers his marriage, pt. 2

Tape: 5 Story: 1 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan recalls performing in the 'Calypso Follies' show in Chicago, Illinois

Tape: 5 Story: 2 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan describes his first meeting with Elijah Muhammad

Tape: 5 Story: 3 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan remembers his calling to the Nation of Islam

Tape: 5 Story: 4 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan recalls his decision to retire from music, pt. 1

Tape: 5 Story: 5 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan recalls his decision to retire from music, pt. 2

Tape: 5 Story: 6 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan remembers becoming the minister of Temple No. 11 in Boston, Massachusetts

Tape: 5 Story: 7 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan recalls the guidance of Elijah Muhammad, pt. 1

Tape: 5 Story: 8 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan recalls the guidance of Elijah Muhammad, pt. 2

Tape: 5 Story: 9 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan remembers Malcolm X

Tape: 6 Story: 1 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan recalls his training for the Nation of Islam, pt. 1

Tape: 6 Story: 2 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan recalls his training for the Nation of Islam, pt. 2

Tape: 6 Story: 3 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan talks about the Chicago City Council's opposition to the Nation of Islam

Tape: 6 Story: 4 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan describes the portrayal of the Nation of Islam in the 'The Hate That Hate Produced'

Tape: 6 Story: 5 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan remembers the reaction to 'The Hate That Hate Produced'

Tape: 6 Story: 6 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan describes his tenure as the leader of Temple No. 11 in Boston, Massachusetts

Tape: 6 Story: 7 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan reflects upon his leadership

Tape: 6 Story: 8 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan talks about Malcolm X's role in the Nation of Islam

Tape: 6 Story: 9 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan describes the Nation of Islam's business enterprises

Tape: 7 Story: 1 - Slating of The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan's interview, session 2

Tape: 7 Story: 2 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan describes the history of the Nation of Islam, pt. 1

Tape: 7 Story: 3 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan describes the history of the Nation of Islam, pt. 2

Tape: 7 Story: 4 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan talks about the leaders of the Nation of Islam

Tape: 7 Story: 5 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan describes the prophesy of Wallace Fard Muhammad

Tape: 7 Story: 6 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan recalls the disappearance of Wallace Fard Muhammad

Tape: 7 Story: 7 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan describes Elijah Muhammad's role as a Wallace Fard Muhammad's representative

Tape: 7 Story: 8 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan remembers joining the Nation of Islam

Tape: 7 Story: 9 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan recalls the assassination of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy

Tape: 8 Story: 1 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan remembers the conflict between Elijah Muhammad and Malcolm X, pt. 1

Tape: 8 Story: 2 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan remembers the conflict between Elijah Muhammad and Malcolm X, pt. 2

Tape: 8 Story: 3 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan recalls Malcolm X's departure from the Nation of Islam

Tape: 8 Story: 4 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan recalls Muhammad Ali's conversion to the Nation of Islam, pt. 1

Tape: 8 Story: 5 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan reflects upon Elijah Muhammad's decisions

Tape: 8 Story: 6 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan recalls the attacks against the Nation of Islam

Tape: 8 Story: 7 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan remembers the assassination of Malcolm X

Tape: 8 Story: 8 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan talks about Malcolm X's trip to Mecca

Tape: 8 Story: 9 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan describes the Nation of Islam's development initiatives

Tape: 9 Story: 1 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan recalls Muhammad Ali's conversion to the Nation of Islam, pt. 2

Tape: 9 Story: 2 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan describes Muhammad Ali's reaction to Malcolm X's departure

Tape: 9 Story: 3 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan recalls Muhammad Ali's protests against the Vietnam War

Tape: 9 Story: 4 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan remembers his leadership of the Nation of Islam in New York City

Tape: 9 Story: 5 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan describes his ministry in New York City

Tape: 9 Story: 6 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan remembers Black Family Day

Tape: 9 Story: 7 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan recalls the jealousy of his fellow ministers, pt. 1

Tape: 9 Story: 8 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan recalls the jealousy of his fellow ministers, pt. 2

Tape: 9 Story: 9 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan his selection as Elijah Muhammad's successor

Tape: 10 Story: 1 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan reflects upon the Nation of Islam's role in the Civil Rights Movement

Tape: 10 Story: 2 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan describes the Nation of Islam's trade and banking initiatives

Tape: 10 Story: 3 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan recalls his nomination as Elijah Muhammad's successor

Tape: 10 Story: 4 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan recalls the death of Elijah Muhammad, pt. 1

Tape: 10 Story: 5 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan recalls the death of Elijah Muhammad, pt. 2

Tape: 10 Story: 6 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan recalls his conflict with Wallace D. Muhammad

Tape: 10 Story: 7 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan remembers Godfrey Cambridge's funeral

Tape: 10 Story: 8 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan remembers advice from a seer

Tape: 10 Story: 9 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan recalls his decision to return to the Nation of Islam

Tape: 11 Story: 1 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan describes Wallace D. Muhammad's views on the Nation of Islam

Tape: 11 Story: 2 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan talks about his relationship with Wallace D. Muhammad

Tape: 11 Story: 3 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan talks about his decision to return to the Nation of Islam

Tape: 11 Story: 4 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan recalls the supporters of his return to the Nation of Islam, pt. 1

Tape: 11 Story: 5 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan recalls the supporters of his return to the Nation of Islam, pt. 2

Tape: 11 Story: 6 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan remembers his study group in Holly Springs, Mississippi

Tape: 11 Story: 7 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan recalls the protection of the Afro American Patrolmen's League

Tape: 11 Story: 8 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan recalls his supporters in Chicago, Illinois, pt. 1

Tape: 11 Story: 9 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan recalls his supporters in Chicago, Illinois, pt. 2

Tape: 12 Story: 1 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan talks about The Final Call

Tape: 12 Story: 2 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan recalls his reconciliation with Warith Deen Mohammed

Tape: 12 Story: 3 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan talks about the growth of Saviours' Day

Tape: 12 Story: 4 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan talks about the formation of the Fruit of Islam

Tape: 12 Story: 5 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan remembers his defense of Reverend Jesse L. Jackson

Tape: 12 Story: 6 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan talks about his followers

Tape: 12 Story: 7 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan describes his economic POWER initiatives, pt. 1

Tape: 12 Story: 8 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan describes his economic POWER initiatives, pt. 2

Tape: 12 Story: 9 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan describes his economic POWER initiatives, pt. 2

Tape: 13 Story: 1 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan recalls his efforts to reconcile with the Jewish community, pt. 1

Tape: 13 Story: 2 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan recalls his efforts to reconcile with the Jewish community, pt. 2

Tape: 13 Story: 3 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan remembers meeting with Jewish leaders, pt. 1

Tape: 13 Story: 4 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan remembers meeting with Jewish leaders, pt. 2

Tape: 13 Story: 5 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan remembers Khalid Abdul Muhammad

Tape: 13 Story: 6 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan talks about his relationship with Khalid Abdul Muhammad

Tape: 13 Story: 7 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan recalls a lesson from Elijah Muhammad

Tape: 13 Story: 8 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan remembers his attempted assassination by Qubilah Shabazz

Tape: 13 Story: 9 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan recalls his encounter with the Mother Plane, pt. 1

Tape: 13 Story: 10 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan recalls his encounter with the Mother Plane, pt. 2

Tape: 13 Story: 11 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan recalls his message to the Libyan government

Tape: 13 Story: 12 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan remembers the bombing of Libya

Tape: 14 Story: 1 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan recalls American interference in Muslim countries

Tape: 14 Story: 2 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan recalls challenges he faced while organizing the Million Man March

Tape: 14 Story: 3 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan remembers the interfaith unity at the Million Man March

Tape: 14 Story: 4 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan recalls his World Friendship Tour

Tape: 14 Story: 5 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan reflects upon the Million Man March

Tape: 14 Story: 6 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan talks about his cancer diagnosis

Tape: 14 Story: 7 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan talks about the future of the United States

Tape: 14 Story: 8 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan talks about the persecution of African American men

Tape: 14 Story: 9 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan reflects upon his life, pt. 1

Tape: 14 Story: 10 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan describes his hopes for the Nation of Islam

Tape: 14 Story: 11 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan reflects upon his legacy

Tape: 15 Story: 1 - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan reflects upon his life, pt. 2

DASession

1$2

DATape

5$10

DAStory

2$9

DATitle

The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan describes his first meeting with Elijah Muhammad

The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan recalls his decision to return to the Nation of Islam

Transcript

So I came back in February of 1955 while I was here September '54 [1954]. So, I go to the mosque. My oldest child, my first child, she was two weeks--one year and two weeks old. So my wife [Betsy Ross Walcott; Khadijah Farrakhan] and I, we put her in her little stroller, and we walked around to 5335 S. Greenwood Avenue [Chicago, Illinois]. But I noticed when we went in, they took, separated my wife from me. I didn't know that that was the custom in the mosque [Temple No. 2, Chicago, Illinois], but they took me and put me up in the balcony where, when you're first timers, you always sit down in the front so you could see and hear. And the leader or whoever is teaching could see you and how you're responding. But Malcolm X was told by Rodney Smith that this very popular entertainer from Boston [Massachusetts] was coming to the convention. So he mentioned me to Elijah Muhammad. So Elijah Muhammad, the year before, the Saviours' Day before, he said, "I'm expecting or looking for my little helper." And the next year, '55 [1955], he hears about this young boy. And so he puts me in the balcony, near a pole, but he put behind me at that pole somebody that he knew so he could look up and see that man and then get a view of this young man. And so by my being a student of English, and he did not speak English very well, I was critical of him in my mind. And he looked up at me, and he said, "Oh brother, I didn't get the mighty fine education that you got. When I got there, the school door was closing, but don't you pay no attention to how I'm saying it. You pay attention to what I'm saying. Then you take it and put it in that fine language that you know, only try to understand what I'm saying." And, of course, I was frightened because he was, in a sense, reading my thoughts. And I listened to his lecture. It was called A Savior is Born for the Black Man and Woman of America, and when he finished, he asked for acceptances. My wife got up and took my baby, but I wasn't quite ready. So my [maternal] uncle [Samuel Manning (ph.)] came and told me, "Get up, get up." And I'm never disrespectful to my uncle or elders. So I got up and went and took my form, and my wife and I went back to our little place at the Wilmington Arms [Wilmington Arms Hotel (ph.)]. And we wrote our letter of acceptance. I never got an answer.$I was put on the West Side [Chicago, Illinois] to teach, upstairs in a storefront in the back. In a few weeks, it was full. We moved further down to a ballroom. In a few months, the ballroom was full. What to do with Farrakhan [HistoryMaker Minister Louis Farrakhan]? So Akbar [Larry 4X; Abdul Akbar Muhammad] tells Imam Wallace D. Muhammad [Warith Deen Mohammed] because he's now the special assistant. He said, "Well, Farrakhan is from the Caribbean. Maybe you could send him--his people are from the Caribbean. Maybe if you send him down there, he would spread Islam there." So they arranged a tour for me. Well, that's like putting the rabbit in the briar patch. And when I went in the Caribbean, I mean they came out by the thousands (laughter). And by the time I got to Guyana in South America, I was in a mosque. And they were introducing me, and they started speaking very negative of Elijah Muhammad. And in that mosque, I threatened to whoop the imam, and I cussed, you know, I went back to my old days. And I said, I'd, I'd, I'd tear his butt up. And so someone was with me that was reporting my actions, and it got back to the imam, so they pulled me (laughter) out of the Caribbean. So I was due to go to the Virgin Islands and that was cancelled. But the point was, what to do with me? So finally, I decided I would leave, and I met with the imam, and I told him, "60 percent of what you teach, I agree with. But 40 percent of it, I don't agree with." He said, "Well, teach the 60 percent that you agree with." And he offered me five different mosques. And I told him, "I'm afraid that if I teach the 60 percent that I agree with, some of the 40 percent that I disagree with will come out, and it will tend to confuse an already confused group of people. I think that I would rather go back into show business." I said, "I would like to do the life of Malcolm X to his transition to orthodox Islam and et cetera, et cetera. I believe I could play his life because I've walked up in his shoes." So he said, "Okay," but then he said, "but don't do anything that would discredit the Honorable Elijah Muhammad." And I said, "I would never do that." And I left. And my journey now takes me to Egypt, then to Saudi Arabia, and finally I don't meet with Baldwin [James Baldwin]. He gets sick. He can't come to Egypt. I meet with Idi Amin, and Idi Amin, when he hears about my desire to do the movie on Malcolm X, he calls Muammar Gaddafi, and Gaddafi agrees to see me. And so he flies me up to Tripoli [Libya]. And I missed the flight because Gaddafi is on his way out of Tripoli to Benghazi [Libya] or somewhere, celebrating the out- ousting of the British, I believe it was Benghazi. But anyway, I missed the flight and missed Gaddafi. So I go to Mecca [Saudi Arabia] and I speak with the scholars about raising money to do the movie. And they downplayed it. And while I was in Mecca, I decided, you know, that I would come back and rebuild the work of Elijah Muhammad.

Read more about The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan

Reverend Dr. C.T. Vivian

Reverend C. T. Vivian was born Cordy Tindell Vivian on July 30, 1924 in Howard County, Missouri. As a small boy he migrated with his mother to Macomb, Illinois, where he attended Lincoln Grade School and Edison Junior High School. Vivian graduated from Macomb High School in 1942 and went on to attend Western Illinois University in Macomb, where he worked as the sports editor for the school newspaper.

His first professional job was recreation director for the Carver Community Center in Peoria, Illinois. There, Vivian participated in his first sit-in demonstrations, which successfully integrated Barton's Cafeteria in 1947. Studying for the ministry at American Baptist College in Nashville, Tennessee in 1959, Vivian met Rev. James Lawson, who was teaching Mahatma Ghandhi's nonviolent direct action strategy to the Student Central Committee. Diane Nash, Bernard Lafayette, James Bevel, James Forman, John Lewis and other students from American Baptist, Fisk University and Tennessee State University executed a systematic non-violent campaign for justice. On April 19, 1960, 4,000 demonstrators marched on City Hall where Vivian and Diane Nash challenged Nashville Mayor Ben West. As a result, Mayor West publicly agreed that racial discrimination was morally wrong. Many of those students became part of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). In 1961, Vivian, now a member of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) participated in Freedom Rides replacing injured members of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE). Vivian was appointed to the executive staff of the SCLC in 1963, when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., named him national director of affiliates. Two years later, in an incident that would make national news, Vivian confronted Sheriff Jim Clark on the steps of the Selma courthouse during a voter registration drive. After an impassioned speech by Vivian, Clark struck him on the mouth, portraying Clark to the world as a racist. In 1969, Vivian wrote the first book on the modern-day Civil Rights Movement, entitled Black Power and the American Myth. During these years, he also started a program entitled Vision, sending students from Alabama to college; the program later came to be known as Upward Bound. By 1979, Vivian had organized and was serving as chairman of the board of the National Anti-Klan Network, which is known today as the Center for Democratic Renewal.

Vivian is also the founder of the Black Action Strategies and Information Center (BASIC), a workplace consultancy on race relations and multicultural training. In 1999, Vivian turned the leadership of BASIC over to one of his sons. Vivian recently launched a new organization (Churches Supporting Churches) in response to the help needed for the victims and churches affected by Hurricane Katrina.

Vivian lives in Atlanta, Georgia.

Vivian was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on March 7, 2004.

Accession Number

A2004.020

Sex

Male

Interview Date

3/7/2004 |and| 10/5/2016

Last Name

Vivian

Maker Category

Marital Status

Widow

Occupation

Civil Rights Leader

Black Action Strategies and Information Center

Organizations

Center for Democratic Renewal

Schools

Lincoln Elementary School

Edison Elementary School

Macomb Senior High School

Lincoln Grade School

Western Illinois University

First Name

C.T.

Birth City, State, Country

Howard County

HM ID

VIV01

Favorite Season

Summer

State

Missouri

THM DA Link

http://marc.thehistorymakers.org/thmdigital/A2004.020.htm

Web Clip 1

https://thmdaprodmedia.blob.core.windows.net/media/story/video/20133

Favorite Vacation Destination

Bahamas

Favorite Quote

None

Bio Photo

Speakers Bureau Region State

Georgia

Birth Date

7/30/1924

Birth Place Term

Howard County

Speakers Bureau Region City

Atlanta

Country

United States

Favorite Food

None

Short Description

Civil rights leader and minister Reverend Dr. C.T. Vivian (1924 - ) was a close friend and lieutenant of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and was an active member of both SNCC and the SCLC, participated in the Freedom Rides, and founded the Black Action Strategies and Information Center.

Employment

Helen Gallagher Foster Mail Order House

Southern Christian Leadership Conference

Shaw University Seminary

C.T. Vivian Leadership Institute, Inc.

Coalition for United Community Action

Vision Program

Urban Training Center for Christian Mission

Nashville News Star

Favorite Color

None

Timing Pairs

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DAStories

Tape: 1 Story: 1 - Slating of C. T. Vivian interview

Tape: 1 Story: 2 - C. T. Vivian's favorites

Tape: 1 Story: 3 - C. T Vivian describes his mother's background

Tape: 1 Story: 4 - C. T. Vivian remembers his mother

Tape: 1 Story: 5 - C. T. Vivian shares his ancestors' thoughts on education

Tape: 1 Story: 6 - C. T. Vivian shares family information

Tape: 1 Story: 7 - C. T. Vivian recalls his childhood in Macomb, Illinois

Tape: 2 Story: 1 - C. T. Vivian describes his childhood in Macomb, Illinois

Tape: 2 Story: 2 - C. T. Vivian discusses his education

Tape: 2 Story: 3 - C. T. Vivian recounts episodes with his childhood friends

Tape: 2 Story: 4 - C. T. Vivian describes the beginnings of his commitment to nonviolence

Tape: 3 Story: 1 - C. T. Vivian recalls his early social life

Tape: 3 Story: 2 - C. T. Vivian describes his early career aspirations

Tape: 3 Story: 3 - C. T. Vivian discusses his college years

Tape: 3 Story: 4 - C. T. Vivian discusses his early awareness of social inequities

Tape: 3 Story: 5 - C. T. Vivian discusses his college major

Tape: 3 Story: 6 - C. T. Vivian describes his early career path

Tape: 4 Story: 1 - C. T. Vivian details his call to the ministry while in college

Tape: 4 Story: 2 - C. T. Vivian describes his early involvement with the Civil Rights Movement

Tape: 4 Story: 3 - C. T. Vivian recalls the civil rights events that led up to the march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama

Tape: 4 Story: 4 - C. T. Vivian details the activities in organizing the march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama

Tape: 4 Story: 5 - C. T. Vivian tells of his role in the march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama

Tape: 5 Story: 1 - C. T. Vivian talks about Bloody Sunday

Tape: 5 Story: 2 - C. T. Vivian details the second attempt at the Selma to Montgomery march

Tape: 5 Story: 3 - C. T. Vivian discusses his personal opinions about racism

Tape: 5 Story: 4 - C. T. Vivian recalls when he was attacked on the courthouse steps in Selma, Alabama

Tape: 5 Story: 5 - C. T. Vivian details more of the event on the courthouse steps in Selma, Alabama

Tape: 6 Story: 1 - Slating of Reverend Dr. C.T. Vivian's interview, session 2

Tape: 6 Story: 2 - Reverend Dr. C.T. Vivian recalls confronting Sheriff Jim Clark at the Dallas County Courthouse in Selma, Alabama, pt. 1

Tape: 6 Story: 3 - Reverend Dr. C.T. Vivian recalls confronting Sheriff Jim Clark at the Dallas County Courthouse in Selma, Alabama, pt. 2

Tape: 6 Story: 4 - Reverend Dr. C.T. Vivian remembers being attacked by Sheriff Jim Clark, pt. 1

Tape: 6 Story: 5 - Reverend Dr. C.T. Vivian remembers being attacked by Sheriff Jim Clark, pt. 2

Tape: 6 Story: 6 - Reverend Dr. C.T. Vivian describes the circumstances of his arrest

Tape: 6 Story: 7 - Reverend Dr. C.T. Vivian talks about his early experiences of nonviolent action

Tape: 6 Story: 8 - Reverend Dr. C.T. Vivian recalls the NAACP's challenge to the Caterpillar Tractor Company

Tape: 7 Story: 1 - Reverend Dr. C.T. Vivian remembers meeting Reverend James Bevel for the first time

Tape: 7 Story: 2 - Reverend Dr. C.T. Vivian recalls the dismissal of his case in Selma, Alabama, pt. 1

Tape: 7 Story: 3 - Reverend Dr. C.T. Vivian recalls the dismissal of his case in Selma, Alabama, pt. 2

Tape: 7 Story: 4 - Reverend Dr. C.T. Vivian remembers the march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge

Tape: 7 Story: 5 - Reverend Dr. C.T. Vivian recalls preaching outside of Selma, Alabama

Tape: 7 Story: 6 - Reverend Dr. C.T. Vivian remembers the killing of Jimmie Lee Jackson

Tape: 7 Story: 7 - Reverend Dr. C.T. Vivian talks about the events leading up to the Selma to Montgomery March

Tape: 8 Story: 1 - Reverend Dr. C.T. Vivian describes the City of Montgomery, Alabama

Tape: 8 Story: 2 - Reverend Dr. C.T. Vivian talks about the arrest of Sheriff Jim Clark

Tape: 8 Story: 3 - Reverend Dr. C.T. Vivian describes the start of the Upward Bound program, pt. 1

Tape: 8 Story: 4 - Reverend Dr. C.T. Vivian describes the start of the Upward Bound program, pt. 2

Tape: 8 Story: 5 - Reverend Dr. C.T. Vivian recalls Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King's decision to enter the ministry

Tape: 8 Story: 6 - Reverend Dr. C.T. Vivian talks about the Black Lives Matter movement, pt. 1

Tape: 8 Story: 7 - Reverend Dr. C.T. Vivian talks about the effectiveness of nonviolent action

Tape: 9 Story: 1 - Reverend Dr. C.T. Vivian talks about the Black Lives Matter movement, pt. 2

Tape: 9 Story: 2 - Reverend Dr. C.T. Vivian recalls the assassination of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Tape: 9 Story: 3 - Reverend Dr. C.T. Vivian talks about the National Council of Churches

Tape: 9 Story: 4 - Reverend Dr. C.T. Vivian describes the development of the Urban Training Center for Christian Mission

Tape: 9 Story: 5 - Reverend Dr. C.T. Vivian talks about the Urban Training Center for Christian Mission

Tape: 9 Story: 6 - Reverend Dr. C.T. Vivian remembers his move to Chicago, Illinois

Tape: 9 Story: 7 - Reverend Dr. C.T. Vivian describes his experiences in Chicago, Illinois, pt. 1

Tape: 9 Story: 8 - Reverend Dr. C.T. Vivian describes his experiences in Chicago, Illinois, pt. 2

Tape: 10 Story: 1 - Reverend Dr. C.T. Vivian talks about J. Archie Hargraves

Tape: 10 Story: 2 - Reverend Dr. C.T. Vivian recalls joining the Urban Training Center for Christian Mission in Chicago, Illinois

Tape: 10 Story: 3 - Reverend Dr. C.T. Vivian talks about recruiting black ministers to the Urban Training Center

Tape: 10 Story: 4 - Reverend Dr. C.T. Vivian remembers well-known African American ministers in Chicago, Illinois

Tape: 10 Story: 5 - Reverend Dr. C.T. Vivian talks about his early activism in Chicago, Illinois

Tape: 10 Story: 6 - Reverend Dr. C.T. Vivian talks about his book, 'Black Power and the American Myth'

Tape: 10 Story: 7 - Reverend Dr. C.T. Vivian recalls the rivalry between the Nashville News Star and the Nashville Globe

Tape: 10 Story: 8 - Reverend Dr. C.T. Vivian recalls joining the Seminary Without Walls at Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina

Tape: 10 Story: 9 - Reverend Dr. C.T. Vivian talks about Reverend Gardner Taylor, pt. 1

Tape: 11 Story: 1 - Reverend Dr. C.T. Vivian talks about Reverend Gardner Taylor, pt. 2

Tape: 11 Story: 2 - Reverend Dr. C.T. Vivian recalls the production of audiotapes at the Urban Training Center

Tape: 11 Story: 3 - Reverend Dr. C.T. Vivian talks about his travels to Kenya

Tape: 11 Story: 4 - Reverend Dr. C.T. Vivian remembers founding the National Anti-Klan Network

Tape: 11 Story: 5 - Reverend Dr. C.T. Vivian recalls Reverend Jesse L. Jackson's presidential campaign

Tape: 11 Story: 6 - Reverend Dr. C.T. Vivian talks about President Barack Obama

Tape: 11 Story: 7 - Reverend Dr. C.T. Vivian describes his experiences as chairman Capitol City Bank and Trust Company in Atlanta, Georgia

Tape: 11 Story: 8 - Reverend Dr. C.T. Vivian talks about the need for financial growth and development in the African American community

Tape: 11 Story: 9 - Reverend Dr. C.T. Vivian reflects upon his legacy

DASession

DATape

DAStory

DATitle

C. T. Vivian talks about Bloody Sunday

Transcript

Sir, how did you find out about the--?$$I--the march--Bloody Sunday [March 7, 1965], I found it out on the TV set. I was home. Most of us were home. In fact, all of us were home for the weekend. And when we had a chance to make such a break, we left one staff member in town. That staff member was not supposed to leave. Alright. And--I'll tell you about later. I got caught in one of those things. But Hosea [Williams] had been wanting to march ever since the Jimmy Lee Jackson situation. Alright. Just a few days in between all of this. And--. (Simultaneously) Okay. And Jimmy Lee Jackson was killed by--.$$(Simultaneously) Yeah. That's right.$$Police officers in Marion [Alabama].$$(Simultaneously) In Marion, See that's where I was. I had been in Hosea's place the week or two before. The week before, I guess really. I never connect these things too well. But that's the week before. And I had left to go to Marion to give a speech. That's--behind that speech is when they walked out and the state police was waiting for them and beat them. And then went looking all over town supposedly for me. Ones--it's according to who's talking. Right. But they went all over town going in one place or the other. And Jimmy Lee Jackson tried to defend his mother from remarks and stuff. And they just shot him. Right. Is that--so the next week or so--we gotta get it right? 'Cause I'm not clear. But it was all in a short length of time. Is that when Hosea's in town. Alright. And Hosea decides he's gonna have the march. And he's gonna have it. He felt like he'd been wanting one. Alright. And so--but he wasn't really supposed to do that kind of action when we were away. We should all be doing that together. But John Lewis comes in town and begins to give him his excuse. And he--and so--'cause John Lewis was willing to do it. Mrs. [Amelia] Boynton [Robinson] was willing to do it (laughs). And so he talks about it was the people's will. And they asked the people and people said--Well I think all that needs some real sharp examination. Alright. So Bloody Sunday comes as a result. Now the reason the second march Martin [Luther King Jr.] turns the troops around and we come back.$$But let me backtrack just a minute.$$Yeah.$$Now how did you--How'd you feel about that? After it's--I mean you--When you--?$$(Simultaneously) Well I mean I'd been in the [Civil Rights] Movement a long time doctor. Stuff happens. Alright. You never know what's gonna happen. Alright. But what Reverend learned--what I learned is everything done to destroy us only becomes a means of developing us. Alright. If you live through it, you'll be able to see it. If you didn't, why you won't see it, but others will (laughs). Alright. But everything used to destroy us becomes a means of developing us. It's a basic lesson for me. I mean that's my line. But the point is I find it true. Alright. Is the--so as far as feelings is concerned, my feeling was it's done. So let's keep moving. Got to.

Read more about Reverend Dr. C.T. Vivian

Bernice Albertine King

Elder Bernice Albertine King was born on March 28, 1963, in Atlanta, Georgia, the youngest daughter to the late civil rights leaders Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Coretta Scott King. King was only five years old when her father was assassinated in Memphis in 1968. Raised in Atlanta, King graduated from Douglass High School in 1981 and went on to earn her B.A. degree in psychology from Spelman College in 1985. In 1990, King was the first official graduate of a joint degree receiving her Masters of Divinity and J.D. degrees from Emory Candler School of Theology and Emory University Law School. She has also received an honorary Doctorate of Divinity degree from Wesley College.

King received her calling to the ministry at the age of seventeen. Shortly thereafter, in her mother’s stead, she gave an address advocating against the South African apartheid to the United Nations General Assembly in New York. In 1985 and again in 1986, King was arrested with her siblings while protesting against apartheid outside the Southern Christian Leadership Conference offices in Atlanta, an organization that her father founded.

While in graduate school, King was a student intern who participated in project STEP in one of Atlanta’s notorious housing projects, Perry Homes. The program connected the residents to employment. During that time, she also headed demonstrations at Emory University.

In 1988, King gave her trial sermon at Ebenezer Baptist Church where both her father and grandfather served as pastors. In 1990, she received her degrees from Emory University in the morning, and that evening she was ordained into the ministry. This day would also mark the twenty-fifth anniversary of her father’s assignation. King assisted the pulpit for a number of years before going to Greater Rising Star Baptist Church in 1992, where she developed the praise team, women’s and youth ministry and the ministers-in-training program. King became assistant pastor in 1995. It was this year that she attended the inauguration of Nelson Mandela in South Africa.

King was privileged to serve as a law clerk in the Fulton County Juvenile Court system, under Judge Glenda Hatchett, who was Georgia's first African American chief presiding justice of a state court and the department head of one of the largest juvenile court systems in the country. During her tenure, King served as a rehabilitation-outreach coordinator and counseled teens that came through the juvenile court system. She has also served as a mentor to a group of fifth grade girls at an inner-city Atlanta elementary school. King became a member of the State Bar of Georgia in 1992.

King is a minister at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, Georgia, under the dynamic leadership of Bishop Eddie Long. In addition to being a speaker, orator and preacher, King has planned and organized numerous conferences, seminars and workshops for all walks of life. She has successfully coordinated women and family conferences as well as nonviolent conflict resolution conferences for college and university students. She has also conducted a class on race relations at Mississippi College in Jackson, Mississippi, and taught a year-long leadership development class.

King is a co-founder of Active Ministers Engaged in Nurturing (AMEN) and the Chair of the national advisory committee on National King Week College and University Student Conference on Kingian Nonviolence. She is also the author of a book titled Hard Questions, Heart Answers: Sermons and Speeches

Accession Number

A2008.032

Sex

Female

Interview Date

2/27/2008

Last Name

King

Maker Category

Middle Name

Albertine

Occupation

Civic Leader

http://marc.thehistorymakers.org/thmdigital/A2008.032.htm

Organizations

Schools

Frederick Douglass High School

The Galloway School

First Name

Bernice

Birth City, State, Country

Atlanta

HM ID

KIN13

Favorite Season

Spring

State

Georgia

THM DA Link

Web Clip 1

https://thmdaprodmedia.blob.core.windows.net/media/story/video/482315

Favorite Vacation Destination

Bahamas

Favorite Quote

Better To Have It And Not Need It Than To Need It And Not Have It

Bio Photo

Speakers Bureau Region State

Georgia

Interview Description

A2008_032_King_Bernice_EAD.pdf

A2008_032_King_Bernice_EAC.pdf

Birth Date

3/28/1963

Birth Place Term

Atlanta

Speakers Bureau Region City

Atlanta

Country

United States

Favorite Food

None

Short Description

Civic leader and minister Bernice Albertine King (1963 - ) was the youngest daughter to the late civil rights leaders Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Coretta Scott King. King, a co-founder of Active Ministers Engaged in Nurturing (AMEN) and the Chair of the national advisory committee on National King Week College and University Student Conference on Kingian Nonviolence. She was also the author of a book titled 'Hard Questions, Heart Answers: Sermons and Speeches'.

Employment

Be A King Enterprises

Favorite Color

Royal Blue, Royal Purple

Web Clip 2

https://thmdaprodmedia.blob.core.windows.net/media/story/video/482317

Timing Pairs

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DAStories

Tape: 1 Story: 1 - Slating of Bernice Albertine King's interview

Tape: 1 Story: 2 - Bernice Albertine King lists her favorites

Tape: 1 Story: 3 - Bernice Albertine King describes her mother's upbringing

Tape: 1 Story: 4 - Bernice Albertine King describes her maternal grandparents' farm

Tape: 1 Story: 5 - Bernice Albertine King describes her maternal grandfather

Tape: 1 Story: 6 - Bernice Albertine King describes her maternal great-grandparents

Tape: 1 Story: 7 - Bernice Albertine King describes her mother's education

Tape: 1 Story: 8 - Bernice Albertine King describes her relationship with her mother

Tape: 1 Story: 9 - Bernice Albertine King describes her mother's aspirations

Tape: 1 Story: 10 - Bernice Albertine King describes her father's childhood

Tape: 2 Story: 1 - Bernice Albertine King describes her father's neighborhood in Atlanta, Georgia

Tape: 2 Story: 2 - Bernice Albertine King describes her father's experiences of discrimination

Tape: 2 Story: 3 - Bernice Albertine King describes her father's family background

Tape: 2 Story: 4 - Bernice Albertine King remembers her paternal grandmother

Tape: 2 Story: 5 - Bernice Albertine King recalls her paternal grandmother's murder

Tape: 2 Story: 6 - Bernice Albertine King recalls coping with her family members' deaths

Tape: 2 Story: 7 - Bernice Albertine King describes her paternal family's education

Tape: 2 Story: 8 - Bernice Albertine King describes how her parents met, pt. 1

Tape: 2 Story: 9 - Bernice Albertine King describes how her parents met, pt. 2

Tape: 3 Story: 1 - Bernice Albertine King describes her paternal great-grandparents

Tape: 3 Story: 2 - Bernice Albertine King describes her parents' honeymoon

Tape: 3 Story: 3 - Bernice Albertine King describes her mother's activism

Tape: 3 Story: 4 - Bernice Albertine King lists her siblings

Tape: 3 Story: 5 - Bernice Albertine King describes her sister, Yolanda King

Tape: 3 Story: 6 - Bernice Albertine King describes her brother, Martin Luther King, III

Tape: 3 Story: 7 - Bernice Albertine King describes her brother, Dexter King

Tape: 3 Story: 8 - Bernice Albertine King describes her earliest childhood memories

Tape: 3 Story: 9 - Bernice Albertine King describes her early memories of her father

Tape: 3 Story: 10 - Bernice Albertine King remembers her father's assassination

Tape: 4 Story: 1 - Bernice Albertine King remembers her father's funeral

Tape: 4 Story: 2 - Bernice Albertine King reflects upon her parents' relationship

Tape: 4 Story: 3 - Bernice Albertine King recalls her family's relationship with the press

Tape: 4 Story: 4 - Bernice Albertine King describes her early activities

Tape: 4 Story: 5 - Bernice Albertine King lists her childhood friends

Tape: 4 Story: 6 - Bernice Albertine King recalls her teachers at The Galloway School in Atlanta, Georgia

Tape: 4 Story: 7 - Bernice Albertine King recalls her decision to attend Frederick Douglass High School in Atlanta, Georgia

Tape: 4 Story: 8 - Bernice Albertine King describes her family's household

Tape: 4 Story: 9 - Bernice Albertine King describes the Vine City neighborhood of Atlanta, Georgia

Tape: 4 Story: 10 - Bernice Albertine King describes the sights, sounds and smells of her childhood

Tape: 4 Story: 11 - Bernice Albertine King describes her early personality

DASession

1$1

DATape

3$4

DAStory

9$1

DATitle

Bernice Albertine King describes her early memories of her father

Bernice Albertine King remembers her father's funeral

Transcript

And the thing that I probably remember and cherish the most is--and I don't know how far back I remember, but when my father [Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.] used to come home off of the road, he loved to play with us, the children. And my mother [Coretta Scott King] was a little frightened for us because the kind of stuff he would do was a little dare devilish. One of the things I would do is I would run up into his arms and he'd say, "Okay we're going to play the kissing game today." And each one of us had a spot. So he'd say, "Okay, where is Dexter's [Dexter King] spot?" So I would kiss him on Dexter's spot. And then he'd say, "Where is Martin [Martin Luther King III]--" Marty was his name at the time. We don't call him that today. He gets upset if you call him Marty. So I'm saying that on this camera. Do not call him Marty. He will let you know it's Martin today. But back then it was Marty. "Where's Marty's spot? And where is Yoki's [Yolanda King] spot?" And then he would do mine and mom's. And I'm trying to remember my spot. I remember, I heard somebody tell it a different way, but I'm telling you what I remember as an impression in my mind, is that my spot was on the forehead. Martin and Dexter's was on either cheek. Yolanda's was on the side over here of the mouth, and then my mother's obviously was the center of the mouth. That's what I remember. But I'm also told that my father--and this is true, it's not that I'm told like it's not true. But he used to put all of us up on the refrigerator and have us to jump down in his arms. And my mother was just--that's the one I said she was just so afraid for us. But we didn't have a care in the world because we felt that our father was going to catch us in his arms and that we were safe and secure. And Yolanda tells the story that she used to get so jealous because she got too big to do it. So when I came along (laughter), I took over everybody's spot (laughter). And I would jump down into his arms.$So when, when we first went to the airport to receive his [King's father, Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.], his remains, I remember going up on the plane and when I got in the plane I heard this, this sound like a wind. And I asked, I told my mom [Coretta Scott King], I said, "He's breathing back there." And she said, "No, that's the plane." Now I don't know where I got that from, but in my mind it was him breathing. And then when we finally went to the funeral home, my silly brothers [Martin Luther King III and Dexter King]. We went in, my father was on one side and there was this other woman. And this other woman apparently, back then they used to put pennies in your eyes to close them. I don't know if you know about that. But this woman, some kind of way she blinked or something, something happened. And it frightened everybody and they ran and left me down there, and I was so terrified. But you know, again, I was keeping all this stuff in my head. And when we got to the funeral on Tuesday the 9th of April, '68, 1968, my mother had decided to allow my father to preach his own eulogy. Because the--two months prior to his assassination on February 4th, '68 [1968], he preached at Ebenezer [Ebenezer Baptist Church, Atlanta, Georgia] a sermon called The Drum Major Instinct. And in that sermon near the end, he talked about if any of you are around when I have to meet my day, tell them I don't want a long funeral. Tell them not to talk too long. And if you get somebody to do the eulogy, he went on and on, you know, tell them not to talk about all of the degrees I have and, you know, all of that kind of stuff. And I just want to be remembered as being a drum major for justice, freedom and all the other shallow things don't matter, and all that kind of stuff. So as soon as they started playing his voice, now I was asleep, basically off and on during the funeral. I was hot. I saw all these lights and, you know, cameras and you know, I'm looking around and all these people. So I go in and out of sleep, and then all of a sudden his voice comes through the speaker, and I'm sitting up there, you know, like and I look at the casket like he's going to come out of it, looking for him. 'Cause she told me he couldn't speak anymore when I saw him. Well I'm five years old. I know my father's voice by this time. And I'm thinking wait a minute, where is he? So I was very confused. And even to this day, it's an issue, this whole death thing and completion of it because that was embedded in my psyche.

Read more about Bernice Albertine King

Reverend Maxine Walker

Religious leader Reverend Maxine Walker was born on July 25, 1936 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Bernadine Lucas, a columnist for The Pittsburgh Courier and the Chicago Defender, and Jack Lucas, a minor league baseball player. After moving to Chicago, Illinois at seven years old, Walker contracted tuberculosis and was unable to walk for a year during her illness. Walker graduated from Cortez Business College before receiving her degree from the Moody Bible Institute.

Shortly thereafter, Walker married Cecil Thomas Walker, a grocery and restaurant owner, and had nine children. Together, they worked in his business, Tom’s Kitchen, while Walker continued to take college courses.

During her career, Walker created the first gospel magazine printed in Chicago, The Platform. After the creation of her own publication, Walker worked for Gatlings’ entities as a public relations person. There, she formed relationships with prominent celebrities like Michael Jordan. Walker then developed another magazine, a television talk show entitled, Touching People, and a gospel play that appeared at the Regal Theatre in Chicago called, One Lord, One Faith, and One Baptism.

In 1980, Walker was called to the ministry and was ordained in 1997. She then became the editor of the gospel newspaper The Spiritual Perspective. In addition to Walker’s passion for teaching the public about spirituality, she is also in the process of writing her first book, Ten Reasons Why You Should Not Use an Herbalist, which educates people about health options when facing debilitating illnesses.

Walker has formed relationships with many notable people throughout her life, including Nelson Mandela and has preached in both Israel and Africa. She counts among her list of influential ministers, Apostle H. Daniel Wilson, Dr. Horace Smith and Bishop Willy Jordan, all of whom share Walker’s passion for teaching the community. In addition, Walker owned a fish market and a lounge on the south side of Chicago and worked as a classified specialist for the Chicago Defender.

She passed away on November 2, 2007, at the age of 71.

Walker was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on April 28, 2007.

Accession Number

A2007.172

Sex

Female

Interview Date

4/28/2007

Last Name

Walker

Maker Category

Occupation

http://marc.thehistorymakers.org/thmdigital/A2007.172.htm

Organizations

Black On Black Love

Rainbow PUSH Coalition

Schools

Zenos Colman Elementary School

St. Benedict School

Corpus Christi Elementary School

The Moody Bible Institute

First Name

Maxine

Birth City, State, Country

Pittsburgh

HM ID

WAL09

Favorite Season

All Seasons

State

Pennsylvania

THM DA Link

Web Clip 1

https://thmdaprodmedia.blob.core.windows.net/media/story/video/523648

Favorite Vacation Destination

Jamaica

Favorite Quote

He Paid It All.

Bio Photo

Speakers Bureau Region State

Illinois

Birth Date

7/25/1936

Birth Place Term

Pittsburgh

Speakers Bureau Region City

Chicago

Country

United States

Favorite Food

Smothered Steak, Chicken

Death Date

11/2/2007

Short Description

Minister Reverend Maxine Walker (1936 - 2007 ) created the first gospel magazine printed in Chicago, "The Platform." She also developed a television talk show, "Touching People," and was the editor of the gospel newspaper, "The Spiritual Perspective."

Employment

Gatling's Chapel, Inc.

The Spiritual Perspective

The Platform

Tom's Kitchen

Favorite Color

Gold, Red

Web Clip 2

https://thmdaprodmedia.blob.core.windows.net/media/story/video/523664

Timing Pairs

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DAStories

Tape: 1 Story: 1 - Slating of Reverend Maxine Walker's interview

Tape: 1 Story: 2 - Reverend Maxine Walker lists her favorites

Tape: 1 Story: 3 - Reverend Maxine Walker describes her mother's family background, pt. 1

Tape: 1 Story: 4 - Reverend Maxine Walker talks about her maternal grandparents' separation

Tape: 1 Story: 5 - Reverend Maxine Walker recalls her mother's and maternal uncle's education

Tape: 1 Story: 6 - Reverend Maxine Walker describes her mother's family background, pt. 2

Tape: 1 Story: 7 - Reverend Maxine Walker describes her father's family background

Tape: 1 Story: 8 - Reverend Maxine Walker describes her earliest childhood memories

Tape: 1 Story: 9 - Reverend Maxine Walker recalls moving to Chicago, Illinois

Tape: 1 Story: 10 - Reverend Maxine Walker remembers her mother's career

Tape: 1 Story: 11 - Reverend Maxine Walker describes her mother's education

Tape: 1 Story: 12 - Reverend Maxine Walker describes her father's career

Tape: 2 Story: 1 - Reverend Maxine Walker describes her influential teacher

Tape: 2 Story: 2 - Reverend Maxine Walker remembers contracting tuberculosis

Tape: 2 Story: 3 - Reverend Maxine Walker remembers resuming her studies

Tape: 2 Story: 4 - Reverend Maxine Walker remembers her college experiences

Tape: 2 Story: 5 - Reverend Maxine Walker describes her marriage to Cecil Walker

Tape: 2 Story: 6 - Reverend Maxine Walker describes her experience in the Methodist church

Tape: 2 Story: 7 - Reverend Maxine Walker recalls her Catholic school education, pt. 1

Tape: 2 Story: 8 - Reverend Maxine Walker recalls her Catholic school education, pt. 2

Tape: 2 Story: 9 - Reverend Maxine Walker recalls how she met her husband, Cecil Walker

Tape: 2 Story: 10 - Reverend Maxine Walker talks about her children

Tape: 2 Story: 11 - Reverend Maxine Walker remembers raising her children

Tape: 3 Story: 1 - Reverend Maxine Walker describes her relationship with her children

Tape: 3 Story: 2 - Reverend Maxine Walker talks about the South Side of Chicago, Illinois

Tape: 3 Story: 3 - Reverend Maxine Walker describes her involvement in the religious community

Tape: 3 Story: 4 - Reverend Maxine Walker talks about the religious ministry

Tape: 3 Story: 5 - Reverend Maxine Walker recalls the religious discrimination at the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, Illinois

Tape: 3 Story: 6 - Reverend Maxine Walker recalls founding The Platform magazine

Tape: 3 Story: 7 - Reverend Maxine Walker recalls her position at Gatling's Chapel, Inc.

Tape: 3 Story: 8 - Reverend Maxine Walker remembers her television show, 'Touching People'

Tape: 3 Story: 9 - Reverend Maxine Walker remembers her play, pt. 1

Tape: 4 Story: 1 - Reverend Maxine Walker remembers her play, pt. 2

Tape: 4 Story: 2 - Reverend Maxine Walker remembers her calling to the ministry

Tape: 4 Story: 3 - Reverend Maxine Walker talks about The Spiritual Perspective newspaper

Tape: 4 Story: 4 - Reverend Maxine Walker describes her personal ministry

Tape: 4 Story: 5 - Reverend Maxine Walker describes her perspective on healthcare

Tape: 4 Story: 6 - Reverend Maxine Walker talks about her mother's poetry

Tape: 4 Story: 7 - Reverend Maxine Walker describes her grandchildren

Tape: 4 Story: 8 - Reverend Maxine Walker describes her philosophy of friendship

Tape: 4 Story: 9 - Reverend Maxine Walker describes why she wanted to share her story

Tape: 4 Story: 10 - Reverend Maxine Walker describes her religious influences

Tape: 4 Story: 11 - Reverend Maxine Walker reflects upon her life

Tape: 5 Story: 1 - Reverend Maxine Walker shares her career advice

Tape: 5 Story: 2 - Reverend Maxine Walker reflects upon her life

Tape: 5 Story: 3 - Reverend Maxine Walker remembers her business ventures

Tape: 5 Story: 4 - Reverend Maxine Walker describes her hopes for the African American community

Tape: 5 Story: 5 - Reverend Maxine Walker remembers Ralph Metcalfe and Sylvester Washington

Tape: 5 Story: 6 - Reverend Maxine Walker recalls her role in Harold Washington's mayoral campaign

Tape: 5 Story: 7 - Reverend Maxine Walker describes her organizational involvement

Tape: 5 Story: 8 - Reverend Maxine Walker describes how she would like to be remembered

Tape: 5 Story: 9 - Reverend Maxine Walker narrates her photographs

DASession

1$1

DATape

3$4

DAStory

3$10

DATitle

Reverend Maxine Walker describes her involvement in the religious community

Reverend Maxine Walker describes her religious influences

Transcript

I would like to go back to your getting very involved in the religious community.$$Okay.$$How did that happen?$$Well, I'm such a studier of the word, where a lot of people go into the church and the clapping of the hands and the music, you know? It, it gets, it, I mean, that becomes church for them, it's always been deeper for me. I remember we belonged to a church called Love Memorial [Love Memorial Church, Chicago, Illinois] and there was a lady, Sister Coleman [ph.] who always, whenever you came in her presence she'd say, "Praise the Lord, how are you doing?" And that bothered me that she would always say praise the Lord, 'cause I wondered why I wasn't saying praise the Lord, we belonged to the same church.$$Um-hm.$$We're getting the same stuff, you know? And so I felt like, that if she was saying praise the Lord, I should be saying praise the Lord, either she shouldn't be saying praise the Lord--$$(Laughter).$$--you know? And so I've always tested stuff from that point of view. And then, but my involvement has been the word, when I study the word, it takes me to a different place, and so I've always had questions, and of course, me being a bold person, I've always asked the pastors questions and then when I became, when I started publishing, the magazine first [The Platform], and always included the ministers. And then when I began to publish the newspaper [The Spiritual Perspective], the same thing, that put me in a area where me and the ministers always had dialogue because that's really part of my workshop. And so, being a female that's kind of uncomfortable for them, but I have a reputation where I've been able to dialogue with them, never ever none of their wives getting upset with me, never feeling out of place, never none of that. But my dialogue has been so strong, they had to stop and listen to it and now the transition of the gospel is so prophetic, and especially with me going through my illness, I've learned so much more. They, they listen, in fact, I have pastors who call and consult with me about their sermons, for the next day, and we have a good time on the, on the phone.$If you could name five ministers that you felt were the most influential to you, or who've made the biggest impact in your spiritual growth, who would they be?$$Number one, it would be Apostle H. Daniel Wilson.$$And why?$$Because he, Sasha [Sasha Daltonn], he teaches a word, known like no other man I've ever seen teach. That's including Jakes [HistoryMaker Bishop T.D. Jakes] and the rest of 'em and all of them have their place, you know, in terms of the ministry and being effective. But he's an excellent word teacher. You would have to experience him to understand what I'm saying.$$Um-hm.$$He's an excellent word teacher. The next person would be, Pastor Meeks [James T. Meeks], I so respect him, I respect him not only because he's the senator, but he has proven to the community that he would not neglect his pulpit, and he has not done that, since his reign, plus he's such a giving individual, I mean he gives beyond what people know. I think he is an attribute to the ministry and what we should stand for--$$Um-hm.$$--as mighty men and women of God, that was the second person. Let me see, who is the third person is. I really respect Dr. Horace Smith [HistoryMaker Dr. Horace Earl Smith], I think Dr. Horace Smith has a level of ministry that reaches out to all mankind and I think that, I mean he has not, I mean we, we know each other and we've done somethings together, but in terms of who I respect in the ministry. Naturally I respect Bishop Brazier [HistoryMaker Bishop Arthur Brazier] the difference in between Bishop Brazier and a Dr. Horace Smith, Dr. Horace Smith is a, is a little younger and has a younger vision for the community at large as well as Africa.$$Um-hm.$$How many have I named thus far?$$That was four.$$That was four? There is, there's so many that I do respect, you gave me a very hard question, you gave me a hard question. I would have to put down Bishop Willie Jordan, who was called the country preacher, who still is called the country preacher. But, he's been very instrumental in my life, allowed me to grow at my own pace up under his ministry, which was basically, I was helping him.$$Um-hm.$$That's, I could go on and on.$$All of those were men, give me three females.$$The Reverend Jimmie Pettis, Pastor Jimmie Pettis [ph.], who is a great friend who has walked the walk in terms of ministry and what she does. I would have to say Reverend Princella Brady Lee is another person who has done a great job and Reverend Princella Gilliam [Princella Hudson-Gilliam], she has also--$$Um-hm.$$--done a good job.

Read more about Reverend Maxine Walker

Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr.

Reverend Abraham Lincoln Woods, Jr. was born on October 7, 1928 to Maggie and Abraham Woods, Sr. in Birmingham, Alabama. Woods attended Parker High School and was given a scholarship to attend Morehouse College. Completing one year at Morehouse, Woods became ill and returned home. During this time, he acknowledged his call to the ministry. Woods received his B.A. degree in theology from the Birmingham Baptist College, his B.A. degree in sociology from Miles College in Birmingham, and his M.A. degree in American history from the University of Alabama. He also completed all the credits needed for his Ph.D.

Woods became a charter member of the Alabama Christian Movement and served as the vice president alongside Rev. Fred L. Shuttlesworth. He served as the director for the Miles College Voter Registration Project and would later become President of the Birmingham Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC).

Woods led the first sit-in at a department store in Birmingham and was jailed for five days. In the summer of 1963, he worked for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. as the deputy director for the Southeast and helped to mobilize the historic March on Washington. He was often asked to speak on behalf of Dr. King because of his oratorical skills.

Woods would later recruit African Americans, especially those with prior military police experience to take the exam for the Birmingham Police Department. He and Dr. Jonathan McPherson assisted them in preparing for the test.

In 1968, Woods was the first African American to teach American history at the University of Alabama. He lectured on Dr. King’s non-violent and conflict resolution philosophy. Woods served for forty years as a faculty member at Miles College. He retired in 2002, and Miles College conferred upon him the Doctorate of Humane Letters.

Woods has been the pastor of St. Joseph’s Baptist Church in Birmingham for thirty-seven years. He is a member of the Trustee Board of Birmingham Bible College, the Baptist Ministers’ Conference, the United States Capital Historical Society and Phi Delta Kappa.

Woods passed away on November 7, 2008 at age 80.

Woods was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on March 23, 2007.

Accession Number

A2007.107

Sex

Male

Interview Date

3/23/2007 |and| 9/7/2007

Last Name

Woods

Maker Category

EducationMakers

American History Professor

Middle Name

Lincoln

Occupation

Civil Rights Leader

Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights

Organizations

NAACP

Southern Christian Leadership Conference

Schools

Morehouse College

Miles College

University of Alabama at Birmingham

Birmingham-Easonian Baptist Bible College

University of Alabama

First Name

Abraham

Birth City, State, Country

Birmingham

HM ID

WOO07

Favorite Season

Fall, Spring

State

Alabama

THM DA Link

http://marc.thehistorymakers.org/thmdigital/A2007.107.htm

Web Clip 1

https://thmdaprodmedia.blob.core.windows.net/media/story/video/467018

Favorite Vacation Destination

Orlando, Florida

Favorite Quote

I Can Do All Things Through Christ That Strengthens Me

Bio Photo

Speakers Bureau Region State

Florida

Birth Date

10/7/1928

Birth Place Term

Birmingham

Speakers Bureau Region City

Longwood

Country

United States

Favorite Food

Fried Chicken

Death Date

11/7/2008

Short Description

Civil rights leader, american history professor, and minister Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. (1928 - 2008 ) was president of the Birmingham, Alabama chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and held sit-ins in Birmingham. Woods also helped in mobilizing the March on Washington.

Employment

Miles College

First Metropolitan Baptist Church

Atlanta Life Insurance Company

Molton Allen & Williams

McWare Cast Iron Pump Company

Favorite Color

Maroon

Web Clip 2

https://thmdaprodmedia.blob.core.windows.net/media/story/video/467037

Timing Pairs

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DAStories

Tape: 1 Story: 1 - Slating of Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr.'s interview, pt. 1

Tape: 1 Story: 2 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. lists his favorites

Tape: 1 Story: 3 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. describes his mother's family background

Tape: 1 Story: 4 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. describes his mother

Tape: 1 Story: 5 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. describes his father's family background

Tape: 1 Story: 6 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. describes his parents' relationship

Tape: 1 Story: 7 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. describes his father

Tape: 1 Story: 8 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. describes his earliest childhood memory

Tape: 1 Story: 9 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. lists his siblings

Tape: 1 Story: 10 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. describes his childhood home

Tape: 1 Story: 11 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. recalls his family's financial difficulties

Tape: 2 Story: 1 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. remembers his family's eviction, pt. 1

Tape: 2 Story: 2 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. recalls his grandmother's bootlegging

Tape: 2 Story: 3 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. remembers his family's eviction, pt. 2

Tape: 2 Story: 4 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. remembers the East Thomas School in Birmingham, Alabama

Tape: 2 Story: 5 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. recalls gang activity during his youth

Tape: 2 Story: 6 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. recalls the Lincoln School in Birmingham, Alabama

Tape: 2 Story: 7 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. recalls A.H. Parker High School in Birmingham, Alabama

Tape: 2 Story: 8 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. recalls attending Atlanta's Morehouse College

Tape: 2 Story: 9 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. remembers Benjamin Mays

Tape: 2 Story: 10 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. recalls his aspirations at Morehouse College

Tape: 2 Story: 11 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. remembers working at The Varsity

Tape: 2 Story: 12 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. describes his religious education

Tape: 3 Story: 1 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. recalls Birmingham Baptist College in Birmingham, Alabama

Tape: 3 Story: 2 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. recalls joining the faculty of Miles College in Fairfield, Alabama

Tape: 3 Story: 3 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. remembers meeting his wife

Tape: 3 Story: 4 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. recalls being courted by his wife

Tape: 3 Story: 5 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. remembers being dismissed by a jealous supervisor

Tape: 3 Story: 6 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. remembers his call to the ministry

Tape: 3 Story: 7 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. recalls founding the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights

Tape: 3 Story: 8 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. describes his role in the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights

Tape: 3 Story: 9 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. remembers Colonel Stone Johnson

Tape: 4 Story: 1 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. recalls the wrongful arrest of Montgomery preachers

Tape: 4 Story: 2 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. recalls the bombing of Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth's home

Tape: 4 Story: 3 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. remembers desegregating the buses in Birmingham, Alabama

Tape: 4 Story: 4 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. recalls the ousting of Bull Connor

Tape: 4 Story: 5 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. recalls leading his first sit-in

Tape: 4 Story: 6 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. remembers being arrested at sit-ins

Tape: 4 Story: 7 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. recalls being assigned to manual labor in jail

Tape: 4 Story: 8 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. remembers registering voters at Miles College in Fairfield, Alabama

Tape: 5 Story: 1 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. recalls the civil rights activities at Miles College

Tape: 5 Story: 2 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. remembers the University of Alabama at Birmingham

Tape: 5 Story: 3 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. recalls the student march in Birmingham, Alabama

Tape: 5 Story: 4 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. lists his children

Tape: 5 Story: 5 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. recalls the impact of the student march in Birmingham, Alabama

Tape: 5 Story: 6 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. remembers Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth's hospitalization

Tape: 5 Story: 7 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. remembers organizing the March on Washington

Tape: 5 Story: 8 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. recalls the crowd at the March on Washington

Tape: 5 Story: 9 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. describes the I Have A Dream speech

Tape: 6 Story: 1 - Slating of Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr.'s interview, pt. 2

Tape: 6 Story: 2 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. recalls the impact of the March on Washington

Tape: 6 Story: 3 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. recalls being hired at Miles College in Fairfield, Alabama

Tape: 6 Story: 4 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. recalls directing a voting education project

Tape: 6 Story: 5 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. recalls his decision to attend graduate school

Tape: 6 Story: 6 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. recalls studying at the University of Alabama at Birmingham

Tape: 6 Story: 7 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. recalls teaching at the University of Alabama at Birmingham

Tape: 6 Story: 8 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. describes his organizational involvement

Tape: 6 Story: 9 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. talks about the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights

Tape: 6 Story: 10 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. talks about other civil rights organizations

Tape: 7 Story: 1 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. recalls the SCLC's partner organizations

Tape: 7 Story: 2 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. describes the surveillance of civil rights activists

Tape: 7 Story: 3 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. remembers the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama

Tape: 7 Story: 4 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. recalls the arrest of child protestors

Tape: 7 Story: 5 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. recalls the first boycott in Birmingham, Alabama

Tape: 7 Story: 6 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. recalls the activists at Miles College in Fairfield, Alabama

Tape: 7 Story: 7 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. remembers the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing

Tape: 7 Story: 8 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. recalls the aftermath of the 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing

Tape: 8 Story: 1 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. recalls the mayoral election of Albert Boutwell

Tape: 8 Story: 2 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. remembers Birmingham official David Vann

Tape: 8 Story: 3 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. recalls his SCLC chapter presidency

Tape: 8 Story: 4 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. recalls Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.'s assassination

Tape: 8 Story: 5 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. remembers the Civil Rights Act of 1964

Tape: 8 Story: 6 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. remembers Bloody Sunday

Tape: 8 Story: 7 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. recalls the police shooting in Hueytown, Alabama

Tape: 8 Story: 8 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. remembers Bonita Carter's death, pt. 1

Tape: 8 Story: 9 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. remembers Bonita Carter's death, pt. 2

Tape: 9 Story: 1 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. remembers David Vann's position on Bonita Carter's murder

Tape: 9 Story: 2 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. recalls organizing a march for Bonita Carter

Tape: 9 Story: 3 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. recalls asking Richard Arrington, Jr. to run for mayor

Tape: 9 Story: 4 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. describes Richard Arrington, Jr.'s mayoral campaign

Tape: 9 Story: 5 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. recalls the mayoralty of Richard Arrington, Jr.

Tape: 9 Story: 6 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. recalls advocating for Maggie Bozeman and Julia Wilder

Tape: 9 Story: 7 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. recalls Reverend Jesse L. Jackson's presidential bid

Tape: 9 Story: 8 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. recalls segregation at the Shoal Creek Golf and Country Club

Tape: 10 Story: 1 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. remembers being sued by George Sands

Tape: 10 Story: 2 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. recalls integrating the Shoal Creek Golf and Country Club

Tape: 10 Story: 3 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. recalls the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing investigation

Tape: 10 Story: 4 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. recalls the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing trials

Tape: 10 Story: 5 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. recalls the convictions of the 16th Street Baptist Church bombers

Tape: 10 Story: 6 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. recalls creating the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, pt. 1

Tape: 10 Story: 7 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. recalls creating the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, pt. 2

Tape: 10 Story: 8 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. reflects upon his legacy

Tape: 10 Story: 9 - Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. shares a message to future generations

DASession

1$1

DATape

3$5

DAStory

7$9

DATitle

Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. recalls founding the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights

Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. describes the I Have A Dream speech

Transcript

All right, so, now you become the pastor of First Metropolitan Church [First Metropolitan Baptist Church, Birmingham, Alabama]. In fifty--and tell me what happens next? What happens next?$$All right. In the late 1950s, after the [U.S.] Supreme Court case, Brown v. the Board of Education [Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 1954], where the Supreme Court handed down the ruling and said separate but equal is inherently unequal, and overturned the Plessy v. Ferguson [Plessy v. Ferguson, 1896] ruling in the 1890s, I believe it was, and said that there had to be desegregation with all deliberate speed--well, at that time the NAACP [National Association for the Advancement of Colored People] here in Birmingham [Alabama] was attacked not only in Birmingham, but in the state was attacked. And the attorney general of the state asked the NAACP to turn over its membership roster to them, as if there was some shady persons--Communists, or this, that, and the other, who were part of the membership. They refused to do it, because they knew it was a witch hunt. Teachers were vulnerable, and other people who had jobs were vulnerable. And they had no problem with dismissing you from your job when you were a part of that kind of activity. So the NAACP refused to do it, and as a result, it was enjoined from operating in the State of Alabama. I had started working with a young lady who was working with Mr. Patton [W.C. Patton], and Mr. Patton was the voter education person for the national NAACP. And Reverend Shuttlesworth [HistoryMaker Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth] was a part of that organization, too. So after the NAACP was outlawed in the State of Alabama, Reverend Shuttlesworth called a mass meeting at the Sardis Baptist Church [Sardis Missionary Baptist Church, Birmingham, Alabama] and said we need an organization that will carry the struggle on. And he was criticized; some of the minsters criticized him, and other people criticized him. And one outstanding preacher said to him, he said "Shuttlesworth, the Lord told me to tell you that you should not organize this organization." And of course, Shuttlesworth shot back and said, "When has the Lord started giving you my messages?" (Laughter) And so he organized it and we embraced it. And I shall never forget, he said, "They killed the old hen," referring to the NAACP, "but before she died, she had some biddies." And the Alabama Christian Movement [Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights] was one of those biddies, and it turned out to be a fighting rooster. This was now in the latter part of the 1950s.$And we marched to the Lincoln Memorial [Washington, D.C.], and I shall never forget. I found my place in the VIP section. I was standing in front of the huge statue of [President] Abraham Lincoln sitting there in the Lincoln Memorial. Some little distance from me was Martin [Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.] with the guards around him, and other people. And we were looking out on the Reflecting Pool [Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, Washington, D.C.], and there were wall to wall folks all around the Reflecting Pool, some standing, some sitting with their feet in the water. And not only were there people around on the level land, but in all of the trees; there were people in the trees, everywhere. I'm telling you, that was a sight that made us glad. And of course the activities started, the singing. And one of the singers was Mahalia Jackson, and of course she had a soulful kind of way of singing. And there were others who did sing, too, but I remember Mahalia Jackson. And there were the speeches. And we got down to Martin Luther King, and he was introduced by none other than J. Philip Randolph [sic. A. Philip Randolph]. And if you have really heard about J. Philip Randolph, he was the dean of the civil rights struggle. He was head of the Pullman car porters, and it was really his idea that we have that march. And he had an eloquent sort of bass voice, a baritone voice, and he introduced King, "Martin Luther King, J-R," and Martin came to the podium, and he led up to I Have a Dream. Now, I know you've heard it on cassette tapes and you've seen it maybe video. But you just needed to have been there. It was something in the air, a kind of charge, some kind of electric in the air that was coursing up and down in our bodies, I'm telling you. King got into his speech with the kind of cadence that he, he used. I'm telling you, he lifted us. I guess we were sort of mesmerized, sort of in a hypnotic trance or something. He just lifted us out of ourselves. "And I have a dream that my little children will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character." And of course, he talked about the promissory note that had come back with insufficient funds, and all of that. And he finally said that, he told us to go on back to the Delta Mississippi. Go on back to Stone Mountain in Georgia. Go on back to this, yonder and that. And he said, "When that day come, we will be able to sing the old spiritual with new meaning, 'Free at last, free at last. Thank God almighty, we're free at last.'"

Read more about Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr.

Reverend Dr. Mary Ivey

Reverend Mary Edith Ivey is an accomplished teacher and principal, government manager, and minister. Ivey was born in Vian, Oklahoma on February 9, 1937, the youngest of five children born to Boyd Henry, a barber and construction worker, and Lucy Henry, a domestic and homemaker. She prepared for a career as a teacher, earning her B.A. degree in 1959 from the College of Oklahoma. She taught for several years in Lawton, Oklahoma and then spent twelve years as an educator in the Kansas City, Missouri Public School System - serving as a teacher, student and family home-school coordinator, head teacher and assistant principal. She attended graduate school at the University of Missouri and earned her M.A. degree in education from the University of Oklahoma.

In 1972, Ivey changed careers, becoming the Director of Program Evaluations for the Model Cities Program in the District of Columbia. She next served as Chief of Mental Health Planning for the District with her final government position being Chief of Long Range Planning for the District, before retiring in 1994.

Ivey prepared for the ministry by obtaining her Master’s of Divinity degree in 2001 from Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington and her Ph.D. in divinity from Howard University. She was ordained into the gospel ministry at the historic Shiloh Baptist Church in Washington, D.C. and at the First Missionary Baptist Church in her home town of Vian, Okalahoma. She served as an Associate Minister at Shiloh Baptist before founding her own church—the non-denominational Church of God’s Love. She is also the founder, President and CEO of Maine Avenue Ministries. Her dissertation for her Howard University divinity degree was published in 2006—entitled Care Giving and Love; Let’s Overcome Violence Everywhere. Ivey’s Maine Avenue Ministries, founded in 1999 in Washington, D.C. is an umbrella for the World of Spiritual Service Leadership Scholarship Awards Program, The Institute for Spirituality, Education and Health and Community Fellowship, the LOVE program (Let’s Overcome Violence Everywhere), and the Long Term Advocacy Program.

Ivey is a widow—her husband, Monteria Ivey, who was an economist, passed away in 2002. She resides in Washington, D.C.

Ivey was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on November 9, 2006.

Accession Number

A2006.137

Sex

Female

Interview Date

11/9/2006

Last Name

Ivey

Maker Category

EducationMakers

City Government Administrator

Occupation

Elementary School Teacher

Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated

Organizations

National Association of Minority Political Families USA

Continental Societies, Incorporated

Metropolitan Women\'s Democratic Club

The Links, Inc

LOVE Program

Schools

The Douglas School

R. T. Coles Vocational/Junior High School

Oklahoma College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

University of Oklahoma

Wesley Theological Seminary

Howard University School of Divinity

First Name

Mary

Birth City, State, Country

Vian

HM ID

IVE01

Favorite Season

Spring

State

Oklahoma

THM DA Link

http://marc.thehistorymakers.org/thmdigital/A2006.137.htm

Web Clip 1

https://thmdaprodmedia.blob.core.windows.net/media/story/video/372303

Favorite Vacation Destination

None

Favorite Quote

I Love You.

Bio Photo

Speakers Bureau Region State

District of Columbia

Birth Date

2/9/1937

Birth Place Term

Vian

Speakers Bureau Region City

Washington

Country

United States

Favorite Food

Greens (Collard)

Short Description

City government administrator, elementary school teacher, and minister Reverend Dr. Mary Ivey (1937 - ) founded her own church, Church of God's Love, and is president and CEO of Maine Avenue Ministries.

Employment

Maine Avenue Ministries

Church of God's Love

Dunbar School

Richardson Elementary School

Booker T. Washington School

Model Cities

Department of Human Services

Favorite Color

Powder Blue

Web Clip 2

https://thmdaprodmedia.blob.core.windows.net/media/story/video/372430

Timing Pairs

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DAStories

Tape: 1 Story: 1 - Slating of Reverend Dr. Mary Ivey's interview

Tape: 1 Story: 2 - Reverend Dr. Mary Ivey lists her favorites

Tape: 1 Story: 3 - Reverend Dr. Mary Ivey describes her mother's family background

Tape: 1 Story: 4 - Reverend Dr. Mary Ivey describes her mother's education and employment

Tape: 1 Story: 5 - Reverend Dr. Mary Ivey describes her mother's personality

Tape: 1 Story: 6 - Reverend Dr. Mary Ivey describes her maternal grandmother

Tape: 1 Story: 7 - Reverend Dr. Mary Ivey describes her father's family background

Tape: 1 Story: 8 - Reverend Dr. Mary Ivey describes her paternal grandparents

Tape: 1 Story: 9 - Reverend Dr. Mary Ivey describes her father's employment and personality

Tape: 1 Story: 10 - Reverend Dr. Mary Ivey describes her siblings

Tape: 1 Story: 11 - Reverend Dr. Mary Ivey describes her earliest childhood memory

Tape: 1 Story: 12 - Reverend Dr. Mary Ivey describes her childhood home in Vian, Oklahoma

Tape: 1 Story: 13 - Reverend Dr. Mary Ivey describes her childhood neighborhood

Tape: 1 Story: 14 - Reverend Dr. Mary Ivey recalls growing up as the youngest of five children

Tape: 1 Story: 15 - Reverend Dr. Mary Ivey describes the role of religion in her childhood

Tape: 2 Story: 1 - Reverend Dr. Mary Ivey describes her early experiences of religion

Tape: 2 Story: 2 - Reverend Dr. Mary Ivey describes the sights, sounds and smells of her childhood

Tape: 2 Story: 3 - Reverend Dr. Mary Ivey describes her family's holidays and entertainment

Tape: 2 Story: 4 - Reverend Dr. Mary Ivey describes her elementary school education

Tape: 2 Story: 5 - Reverend Dr. Mary Ivey describes her childhood mentors

Tape: 2 Story: 6 - Reverend Dr. Mary Ivey describes her disposition as a child

Tape: 2 Story: 7 - Reverend Dr. Mary Ivey recalls briefly living in Kansas City, Missouri

Tape: 2 Story: 8 - Reverend Dr. Mary Ivey describes her parents' employment in Kansas City

Tape: 2 Story: 9 - Reverend Dr. Mary Ivey describes her high school experience

Tape: 2 Story: 10 - Reverend Dr. Mary Ivey recalls the Oklahoma College for Women

Tape: 2 Story: 11 - Reverend Dr. Mary Ivey recalls obtaining a teaching position in Kansas City, Missouri

Tape: 2 Story: 12 - Reverend Dr. Mary Ivey describes her career at Richardson Elementary School

Tape: 2 Story: 13 - Reverend Dr. Mary Ivey recalls her promotions to assistant principal and principal

Tape: 3 Story: 1 - Reverend Dr. Mary Ivey recalls joining the Model Cities program, pt. 1

Tape: 3 Story: 2 - Reverend Dr. Mary Ivey recalls joining the Model Cities program, pt. 2

Tape: 3 Story: 3 - Reverend Dr. Mary Ivey recalls the loss of funding for the Model Cities program

Tape: 3 Story: 4 - Reverend Dr. Mary Ivey describes her career at the Department of Human Services

Tape: 3 Story: 5 - Reverend Dr. Mary Ivey recalls meeting her husband at Shiloh Baptist Church

Tape: 3 Story: 6 - Reverend Dr. Mary Ivey remembers retiring from government in 1994

Tape: 3 Story: 7 - Reverend Dr. Mary Ivey describes her calling to the ministry

Tape: 3 Story: 8 - Reverend Dr. Mary Ivey describes the process of ordination

Tape: 3 Story: 9 - Reverend Dr. Mary Ivey describes her first sermon

Tape: 3 Story: 10 - Reverend Dr. Mary Ivey remembers the Howard University School of Divinity

Tape: 3 Story: 11 - Reverend Dr. Mary Ivey talks about her book, 'Care Giving and Love'

Tape: 3 Story: 12 - Reverend Dr. Mary Ivey talks about founding Maine Avenue Ministries

Tape: 4 Story: 1 - Reverend Dr. Mary Ivey describes her mission at Maine Avenue Ministries

Tape: 4 Story: 2 - Reverend Dr. Mary Ivey describes the Let's Overcome Violence Everywhere program

Tape: 4 Story: 3 - Reverend Dr. Mary Ivey talks about founding the Church of God's Love

Tape: 4 Story: 4 - Reverend Dr. Mary Ivey describes the National Association of Minority Political Families

Tape: 4 Story: 5 - Reverend Dr. Mary Ivey talks about her organizational involvement

Tape: 4 Story: 6 - Reverend Dr. Mary Ivey talks about The HistoryMakers project

Tape: 4 Story: 7 - Reverend Dr. Mary Ivey reflects upon her life

Tape: 4 Story: 8 - Reverend Dr. Mary Ivey reflects upon her legacy

Tape: 4 Story: 9 - Reverend Dr. Mary Ivey describes how she would like to be remembered

Tape: 5 Story: 1 - Reverend Dr. Mary Ivey narrates her photographs

DASession

1$1

DATape

1$3

DAStory

11$7

DATitle

Reverend Dr. Mary Ivey describes her earliest childhood memory

Reverend Dr. Mary Ivey describes her calling to the ministry

Transcript

What are your earliest, farthest back memories as a child? How far back can you remember as a child? What incidents and situations do you remember?$$I remember going to school [Douglas School, Vian, Oklahoma] when I was about three years old. My [paternal] grandmother, Mary [Mary Henry], also kept teachers who were--single teachers who were boarding and she had one teacher named Edith Jenkins and my middle name is for her. And Ms. Jenkins was unmarried and so she made her--I was like her little toy girl. So, she taught me to read--to read by the time I was three years old. And she made reading fun to me, and I bless the Lord for her to this day because, because of her, I've always enjoyed reading. It is my passion now. If I could get rid of some of the books I have, I could (laughter)--yeah, but anyway, I remember that. And I always--and I used to like to dance when I got older. And I just like fun and people. I'm very outgoing and very gregarious and so if it was fun--and then when I was a little girl, I used to go--I wanted to go to the fields and work and make some money. And I was perhaps the only girl my age or the youngest in town catching the trucks going to the fields to pick tomatoes, pick strawberries, cut spinach and all of that. And my mother [Lucy Ballard Lacy] would say, "Now, don't you get up there on that truck and get hurt and fall off." And everybody in town were saying, "Why do they let her go?" But I would cry to go. I would beg to go because I was always independent, always wanted my money, always liked shoes and my mother would let me buy a pair of shoes with my money (simultaneous)--$$(Simultaneous) You still like shoes?$$--and go to the fair. Yes, I still like them. I have far too many.$You're known today and we want to begin to talk about the--your religious leadership and your ministries and a number of other organizations that you have founded and, and all related to human services and so on. Tell us how you began to move into the field of ministry. This happened after you retired or before or?$$Yes, after I retired, and I, I shared with you a little earlier that both my mother [Lucy Ballard Lacy] and my husband [Monteria Ivey, Sr.] were ill, and I just didn't know which way to turn, and I would often times come right in this room, in the living room, and get on my knees before the sofa or in front of a chair and just pray. And that's--was during the time that I felt that I was called to the ministry and that's during the time I was telling God, "I don't see how I can do this. I just--," and then some things began to be revealed to me. I went to a person's home who was on her death bed, so to speak, that I took my husband by to visit with her, and her name was Gertie Mae Turner [ph.]. She ended up leaving Shiloh Baptist Church [Washington, D.C.], a lot of her property and the building that they use for the office building, and some units in the same block of the church as well. But she said to me that day, she said, "The Lord wants you to speak for Him," and I had not mentioned to anybody but my mother, and my mother never knew her, and my mother was in Oklahoma and my husband about the ministry call. They both had encouraged me to do it but I hadn't really done anything about it. And so that was shocking to me. I knew my husband had not spoken to her because by that time, he couldn't dial the phone by himself. And I knew she was very sick, and I knew he had--so that shocked me. And I told Reverend Smith [Wallace Charles Smith] when I went to here and he said that often happens in life (unclear). So, different things began to happen to me, that I was asking God to show me some signs and what have you if--and I would say this, don't ask to be shown if you don't know what you're going to be shown because some of the things were frightening to me that happened, but I realized that God was doing what I had asked God to do. And so when my mother died, I said to a minister in Oklahoma, another female minister, that I was called to the ministry but I had not acknowledged it and that I felt empty inside. And, you know, it was a painful feeling and she said that, "You're going to always feel that way if you don't declare God publicly." Because she said, "I've been through it. The same thing happened to me." She said, "And once you declare it and begin, then you will feel different," and she was telling the truth. That was true. So I came back and actually we were at a Lott Carey [Landover, Maryland] meeting and I was co-chairing something for the Lott Carey for Reverend Smith and I just broke down--we were at the Shoreham Hotel and started crying. And he thought someone had said something to me or done something, so he said, "Well, what's wrong?" And we ended up going into a room talking, and I told him what had happened and he, he kids now and he says, publicly, he said, "I nearly fell out when Mary [HistoryMaker Reverend Dr. Mary Ivey] told me (laughter)." But, anyway, he told me to come to his office and talk, and I went to his office and talked. And he was teaching a class or two at Wesley Theological Seminary [Washington, D.C.] at the time and so the first thing he said to me, he said, well, "We gotta get you before the board, gotta do a trial sermon, and then also we gotta get you in Wesley." And that's how I happened to go to Wesley Seminary. He just said, "Wesley," and I went to Wesley and I really enjoyed it, but I also was ordained in Oklahoma before I finished Wesley by the same woman's husband who told me that I would feel empty. Her husband was the pastor of the church that my mother attended. And he invited me to be ordained at that church since my mother had been one of his closest friends in there. And he's dead now, but I went there and I was ordained, and then when I graduated from seminary, I was ordained here at Shiloh also.

Read more about Reverend Dr. Mary Ivey

Reverend H. K. Matthews

Civil rights icon and minister Reverend H.K. Matthews was born Hawthorne Konrad Matthews on February 7, 1928, in Snow Hill, Alabama, to Lavinia Johnson and John Henry Matthews. Matthews was raised by his grandmother, Lucy P. Johnson-Matthews, after his mother died. His grandmother was a school teacher and his father was a farmer. He graduated from Snow Hill Institute in 1947, and attended Alabama Agricultural & Mechanical University for three years before enlisting in the United States military in 1949.

After serving in the Korean War, Matthews them moved to Pensacola, Florida in 1955, where he became involved with church activities and was mentored by one of Pensacola’s leading black clergy, Reverend W.C. Dobbins. During this time, Matthews became active with civil rights activities and was employed by the Florida State Employment Service. He was ordained in the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church in 1961. While living in Florida, Matthews founded the Pensacola National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Youth Council and the Escambia County Chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Matthews spearheaded protests that resulted in the increased employment of African Americans at Pensacola’s Sacred Heart Hospital, Southern Bell Telephone Company and the West Pensacola Bank. Matthews was jailed thirty-five times for his involvement with the Civil Rights Movement. Matthews returned to Alabama in 1977 and continued to minister at Zion Fountain A.M.E Zion church for twenty-four years. During this time, Matthews was also presiding over twenty-one other churches in the area.

Matthews has received many honors for his work in Pensacola, Florida during the Civil Rights Movement in Pensacola, Florida. In February 2006, the City Council of Pensacola dedicated a park in his honor to recognize the social changes that he brought to the city.

H.K. Matthews was interviews by The HistoryMakers on October 16, 2006.

Accession Number

A2006.121

Sex

Male

Interview Date

10/16/2006

Last Name

Matthews

Maker Category

Marital Status

Married

Occupation

Civil Rights Activist

Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)

Organizations

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)

Schools

Snow Hill High School

Alabama A&M University

First Name

H.K.

Birth City, State, Country

Snowhill

HM ID

MAT04

Favorite Season

Fall

State

Alabama

THM DA Link

http://marc.thehistorymakers.org/thmdigital/A2006.121.htm

Web Clip 1

https://thmdaprodmedia.blob.core.windows.net/media/story/video/379590

Favorite Vacation Destination

Destin, Florida

Favorite Quote

Absolutely.

Bio Photo

Speakers Bureau Region State

Alabama

Interview Description

A2006_121_Matthews_HK_EAD.pdf

A2006_121_Matthews_HK_EAC.pdf

Birth Date

2/7/1928

Birth Place Term

Snowhill

Speakers Bureau Region City

Brewton

Country

United States

Favorite Food

Greens (Collard), Chicken

Short Description

Civil rights activist and minister Reverend H. K. Matthews (1928 - ) established the Pensacola NAACP Youth Council and Escambia County Chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

Employment

Florida State Employment Services

Jefferson Davis Community College

Zion Fountain A.M.E. Zion Church

Favorite Color

Blue

Web Clip 2

https://thmdaprodmedia.blob.core.windows.net/media/story/video/379357

Timing Pairs

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DAStories

Tape: 1 Story: 1 - Slating of Reverend H.K. Matthews' interview

Tape: 1 Story: 2 - Reverend H.K. Matthews lists his favorites

Tape: 1 Story: 3 - Reverend H.K. Matthews describes his maternal grandmother

Tape: 1 Story: 4 - Reverend H.K. Matthews describes his maternal grandmother's education and personality

Tape: 1 Story: 5 - Reverend H.K. Matthews describes his father

Tape: 1 Story: 6 - Reverend H.K. Matthews describes his earliest childhood memories

Tape: 1 Story: 7 - Reverend H.K. Matthews describes his early education

Tape: 1 Story: 8 - Reverend H.K. Matthews describes his high school education

Tape: 1 Story: 9 - Reverend H.K. Matthews describes his childhood extracurricular activities

Tape: 1 Story: 10 - Reverend H.K. Matthews describes the collective parenting of his community

Tape: 1 Story: 11 - Reverend H.K. Matthews describes Christmas celebrations during his childhood

Tape: 1 Story: 12 - Reverend HK Matthews describes his neighborhood in Snow Hill, Alabama

Tape: 1 Story: 13 - Reverend H.K. Matthews describes the sights, sounds and smells of his childhood

Tape: 1 Story: 14 - Reverend H.K. Matthews remembers Snow Hill Normal and Industrial Institute

Tape: 1 Story: 15 - Reverend H.K. Matthews recalls how he became a preacher

Tape: 2 Story: 1 - Reverend H.K. Matthews recalls his professors at Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical College

Tape: 2 Story: 2 - Reverend H.K. Matthews describes the role of religion at Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical College

Tape: 2 Story: 3 - Reverend H.K. Matthews remembers enlisting in the U.S. Army

Tape: 2 Story: 4 - Reverend H.K. Matthews describes his experiences in the Korean War

Tape: 2 Story: 5 - Reverend H.K. Matthews describes his life after leaving the U.S. military

Tape: 2 Story: 6 - Reverend H.K. Matthews remembers overcoming his alcoholism

Tape: 2 Story: 7 - Reverend H.K. Matthews recalls protesting segregation in Pensacola, Florida

Tape: 2 Story: 8 - Reverend H.K. Matthews describes St. Mark's A.M.E. Zion Church in Pensacola, Florida

Tape: 2 Story: 9 - Reverend H.K. Matthews talks about Reverend W.C. Dobbins

Tape: 2 Story: 10 - Reverend H.K. Matthews recalls working at Florida's state employment service agency

Tape: 2 Story: 11 - Reverend H.K. Matthews talks about managing the Escambia Arms housing complex

Tape: 2 Story: 12 - Reverend H.K. Matthews remembers his ordination

Tape: 3 Story: 1 - Reverend H.K. Matthews describes his first day at Florida's state employment service agency

Tape: 3 Story: 2 - Reverend H.K. Matthews describes his grandmother's influence on his activism

Tape: 3 Story: 3 - Reverend H.K. Matthews recalls integrating the Pensacola public school system, pt. 1

Tape: 3 Story: 4 - Reverend H.K. Matthews recalls integrating the Pensacola public school system, pt. 2

Tape: 3 Story: 5 - Reverend H.K. Matthews describes his arrest at Escambia High School

Tape: 3 Story: 6 - Reverend H.K. Matthews remembers sit-ins at businesses in Pensacola, Florida

Tape: 3 Story: 7 - Reverend H.K. Matthews recalls the shooting of Wendel Blackwell

Tape: 3 Story: 8 - Reverend H.K. Matthews describes the aftermath of Wendel Blackwell's murder

Tape: 3 Story: 9 - Reverend H.K. Matthews recalls protesting Wendel Blackwell's murder

Tape: 3 Story: 10 - Reverend H.K. Matthews recalls being imprisoned for his civil rights activism

Tape: 3 Story: 11 - Reverend H.K. Matthews recalls founding the Pensacola chapter of SCLC

Tape: 4 Story: 1 - Reverend H.K. Matthews remembers the Selma to Montgomery March

Tape: 4 Story: 2 - Reverend H.K. Matthews remembers being attacked on the Edmund Pettus Bridge

Tape: 4 Story: 3 - Reverend H.K. Matthews remembers Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Tape: 4 Story: 4 - Reverend H.K. Mathews describes the philosophy behind his activism

Tape: 4 Story: 5 - Reverend H.K. Matthews describes his children and grandchildren

Tape: 4 Story: 6 - Reverend H.K. Matthews talks about his book, 'Victory After the Fall'

Tape: 4 Story: 7 - Reverend H.K. Matthews describes his congregation in Brewton, Alabama

Tape: 4 Story: 8 - Reverend H.K. Matthews reads from his book, 'Victory After the Fall,' pt. 1

Tape: 4 Story: 9 - Reverend H.K. Matthews reads from his book, 'Victory After the Fall,' pt. 2

Tape: 4 Story: 10 - Reverend H.K. Matthews reflects upon his civil rights activism

Tape: 4 Story: 11 - Reverend H.K. Matthews talks about his awards and honors

Tape: 4 Story: 12 - Reverend H.K. Matthews talks about Arthur Rocca

Tape: 4 Story: 13 - Reverend H.K. Matthews reflects upon his life

Tape: 5 Story: 1 - Reverend H.K. Matthews describes his plans for the future

Tape: 5 Story: 2 - Reverend H.K. Matthews describes his hopes and concerns for the African American community

Tape: 5 Story: 3 - Reverend H.K. Matthews reflects upon how he would like to be remembered

Tape: 5 Story: 4 - Reverend H.K. Matthews narrates his photographs

DASession

1$1

DATape

3$4

DAStory

4$1

DATitle

Reverend H.K. Matthews recalls integrating the Pensacola public school system, pt. 2

Reverend H.K. Matthews remembers the Selma to Montgomery March

Transcript

The following year, the students wanted me to speak at Woodham High School [Pensacola, Florida] and some of the colored teachers out there thought it and said that that school was not ready for me because I was too militant? Whatever the case might was, I guess that was it. And, and my thinking was always that being militant is merely pursuing that which rightfully belongs to you. That, that was my definition of militant, but they didn't see it that way. And then the next big thing with the high school was at Escambia High [Escambia High School, Pensacola, Florida] when the black students went--the African American students went to Escambia High School, they played 'Dixie' and we didn't complain too much about the rebel flag, the use of it. We complained about the misuse of it because they were flaunting it in the face of the black students, and that's when the big, big push against the school system when we took the kids out of school and had Freedom Schools set up all over this county. We had Freedom Schools in Atlan [ph.] chapel, the church and several other areas where the black kids were being taught by retired African American teachers and they were getting all of the subject matter that they needed. As a matter of fact, I set up some down in DeFuniak Springs [Florida] and in Chipley [Florida]. So, we finally got the name Rebel, which was the name of the school, Escambia High Rebels. We got that removed. They changed the name of the football team to the One Hundreds or something and they didn't win a game the following year. But that was the biggest push as it relates to schools. There were rioting going--there was rioting going out at the school and, and I always said they blamed me for everything that happened here. If Santa Claus didn't come, they'd blame H. K. Matthews [HistoryMaker Reverend H. K. Matthews]. Easter Bunny didn't lay no eggs, they'd blame H. K. Matthews. I was in the Evergreen--pastoring a church in Evergreen [Florida] and living up there when one of the last riots broke out at Escambia High School and they said it was my fault. (Laughter) You know, I, I was responsible for it. I'm, I'm a hundred miles away, but I'm responsible for the riots that took place.$You joined Martin Luther King [Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.] and the other soldiers in SCLC [Southern Christian Leadership Conference] and you were a leader in SCLC here, Pensacola [Florida]. Tell us about Edmund Pettus Bridge [Selma, Alabama] and that march [Selma to Montgomery March].$$Now, we--I was really, as, as I say, I was a face in the crowd, however, I knew the purpose. The purpose was trying to get a voting rights act passed. And I considered myself and the people did here, a leader in the African American community and I felt that in order for me to represent myself as a leader or represent this community as a leader, I need to be involved in something that was broader than Pensacola and Chipley [Florida] and DeFuniak Springs [Florida] in those areas. And, and, and so when the call went out for people to come to Selma [Alabama], I answered the call. I--you know, I got in my little blue--my pink and white Ford and I, I went to Selma and all, all I wanted to do was just be out. I didn't care if I was at the tail, or the middle or wherever I was. I wanted to be in a part of something that was going to make a significant change in the life of this country. First of all, I served in Korea. I was disappointed that I had fought against an enemy who could come over here and have more privileges than I had. And so I, I just wanted to be a part of that. I, I was not thinking about a part of history making, that was not--that was the furthest thing from my mind. The thing for my mind was the fact that yeah, our people are unable to vote, you know, freely. You know, who, who, who wants an interpreter, consulter. Who can? You know, who wants to pay poll tax. Who wants to do all of this stuff just to be able to pull a lever or to vote? So, you know, that was an opportunity for me to assert myself whether anybody noticed me or not. And so that was my rationale, my reasoning for hooking up with that march because I wanted to be a part of something, something greater than sit-ins and selective buying campaigns--

Read more about Reverend H. K. Matthews

Reverend Jesse L. Jackson

Prominent civil rights activist and political leader Reverend Jesse Louis Jackson, Sr. was born Jesse Louis Burns on October 8, 1941 in Greenville, South Carolina to Helen Jackson and Noah Robinson. His mother later remarried Charles Henry Jackson, who formally adopted Jackson and his brother Charles. Jackson received his high school diploma from Sterling High School in Greenville, and in 1959, he received an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. After his first year, Jackson then transferred to North Carolina A&T University in Greensboro, North Carolina.

At North Carolina A&T, Jackson continued to excel in sports. He was an honor student and president of his student body. On December 31, 1962, Jackson married college classmate, Jacqueline Lavinia Brown, in Greenville. Returning to North Carolina A&T, he became involved in the Civil Rights Movement joining the Greensboro chapter of the Council on Racial Equality (CORE). In 1963, Jackson helped to organize several sit-ins, desegregating local restaurants and theaters in Greensboro. Jackson was chosen as field director of CORE's southeastern operations, and president of the North Carolina Intercollegiate Council on Human Rights. In 1964, he also served as a delegate at the Young Democrats National Convention. In the same year, Jackson graduated from North Carolina A&T with a B.S. degree in sociology. He then received a Rockefeller grant to begin his postgraduate studies at the Chicago Theological Seminary in Chicago, Illinois.

In 1965, Jackson left the seminary to join Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) to march in Selma, Alabama. At this time, Jackson became an ordained minister, although he had not returned to the seminary. In 1966, Dr. King appointed Jackson to SCLC's Chicago economic program, Operation Breadbasket. The goal of Operation Breadbasket was to foster the economy of African American business owners and provide employment growth for African American workers. On December 25, 1971, Operation Breadbasket was renamed Operation PUSH - People United to Serve Humanity.

Over the next decade, Jackson continued his involvement with local, national, and international politics. In 1983, Jackson negotiated the release of war prisoner, U.S. pilot Robert Goodman, in Syria. In 1984 and 1988, Jackson ran for President of the United States. As a Democratic candidate, he garnered massive support and exceeded expectations for the number of delegates received. Jackson’s electoral run also helped to register two million new voters.

Jackson moved to Washington, D.C. in 1989. At that time, the Washington City Council created two positions of shadow senator to lobby for the statehood of Washington, D.C. in the U.S. Congress. Jackson won one of the Senate seats, his first elected position.

In 1991, Jackson gained international acclaim again when he negotiated for the release of hundreds of foreign nationals in Kuwait under the regime of Saddam Hussein. In that same year, his likeness was put on a United States Post Office pictorial postal cancellation. Jackson is the second living person to ever receive such an honor. President Bill Clinton then appointed Jackson in 1997 as a special envoy for democracy in Kenya, later awarding him the Presidential Medal of Freedom in March 2000. Jackson hosted the CNN television program Both Sides With Jesse Jackson from 1992 to 2000. He has written numerous columns and authored/co-authored several books including Keep Hope Alive (1989) and It’s About The Money (1999).

Jackson and the Rainbow PUSH Coalition have organized numerous events over the years that bring attention to problems facing all Americans including economic advancement, workers rights, labor conditions, voter registration, education, and racial profiling. He has been awarded over forty honorary degrees, received the NAACP Springarn Award, and been listed as one of the top ten most respected Americans. In 2000, Jackson received an honorary Masters degree from his former school, Chicago Theological Seminary. The seminary recognized Jackson’s countless years of civic service to the American community.

In 2003, Jackson created the Wall Street Project. This project aims to build economic opportunities and advancements of African Americans influencing corporate America companies to increase economic growth and opportunity with minority communities and businesses. In 2004, Jackson became a radio host for the nationally syndicated radio talk show entitled, Keep Hope Alive.

Jackson and his wife, Jacqueline, currently divide their residency between Chicago, Illinois and Washington, D.C. They have five children, Santita Jackson, U.S. Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr., Jonathan Jackson, Yusef Jackson, and Jacqueline L. Jackson.

Accession Number

A2006.031

Sex

Male

Interview Date

2/28/2006 |and| 3/1/2006 |and| 3/2/2006 |and| 3/9/2006 |and| 3/11/2006

3/9/2006 |and| 3/11/2006

Last Name

Jackson

Maker Category

Marital Status

Married

Middle Name

Occupation

Civil Rights Leader