Thurman , Howard, 1900-1981
Biography
Howard Washington Thurman (November 18, 1899 – April 10, 1981) was a theologian, mystic, author, educator, and civil rights leader. He was born in Daytona, Florida, and attended Morehouse College, graduating in 1923 as valdictorian. While a student at Rochester Theological Seminary, he was ordained a Baptist minister in 1925 at First Baptist Church, in Roanoke, Virginia. Throughout his life, he intersected with many distinguished world leaders and prominent indivduals. He was a close friend to Martin Luther King's father, and heavily influenced by his relationship with Quaker philospher and mystic, Rufus Jones. Among his numerous professional accomplishments, he was the first dean of Rankin Chapel at Howard Univeristy from 1932 until 1944; he traveled broadly, meeting Mahatma Gahndi in 1936; he established the Church for the Fellowship of Peoples in San Francisco; and was dean of Marsh Chapel at Boston Univeristy from 1953 until 1965, site of the well known 1962 "Good Friday Experiment."