Ed King (activist) facts for kids

Ralph Edwin King Jr. (born September 20, 1936, died July 4, 2026), known to most as Ed King, was a brave minister, teacher, and leader in the Civil Rights Movement. He played a very important part in big events for civil rights in Mississippi, like the Jackson Woolworth's sit-in in 1963 and the Freedom Summer project in 1964. From 1963 to 1967, King worked at Tougaloo College in Jackson, Mississippi, as a chaplain (a minister for the college) and dean of students. During this important time, a historian named John Dittmer called King "the most visible white activist" in the Mississippi Civil Rights Movement.

As the chaplain at Tougaloo College, King worked with many key figures in the Civil Rights Movement. These included Bob Moses from the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), Medgar Evers of the NAACP, and Martin Luther King Jr. from the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). He also collaborated with activists from the Council of Federated Organizations (COFO), such as Fannie Lou Hamer.

King also helped start the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP). He was a member of the Democratic National Committee and attended three Democratic National Conventions. In 2004, he and other MFDP delegates were honored at the 2004 Democratic National Convention for their efforts to end racial unfairness in the Democratic party.

Early Life and Growing Up

Ed King was born on September 20, 1936, in Vicksburg, Mississippi. His father, Ralph Edwin King Sr., was an engineer. His mother, Julia Wilma Tucker King, came from a family with long roots in Mississippi. King's great-grandfather fought in the Civil War. His grandfather, J. W. Tucker, was a sheriff.

Growing up in Vicksburg, King heard many stories about the hard times his family faced during the Civil War siege. He spent hours at the Vicksburg battleground, thinking about the high cost of war. When he was a teenager, he became interested in pacifism, which means believing in peaceful ways to solve problems. He admired Mahatma Gandhi, a famous leader who used non-violence. King later said that he believed in peace long before he had more modern ideas about race.

King was a good student. He won a scholarship to Millsaps College, a popular school for bright students.

Education and New Ideas

College Years at Millsaps (1954–1958)

While in high school, King went to church youth meetings at Millsaps College. This was a Methodist school in Jackson. He always wanted to go to Millsaps. As a student there, he saw firsthand how much white people opposed the Supreme Court's decision to end segregation in schools, known as Brown v. Board of Education.

At Millsaps, King attended meetings of all-white groups called Citizens' Councils. He was upset to see how white people who wanted change were silenced. He also went to meetings at nearby Tougaloo College where black and white people met. There, he met Medgar Evers and other important black civil rights leaders. His teachers, like Ernst Borinski (who fled from Nazi Germany) and George Maddox, also helped shape his views against segregation.

Studying at Boston University (1958–1963)

After finishing Millsaps in 1958, King moved to attend Boston University School of Theology. He regularly joined meetings with religious leaders, peace activists, and civil rights workers.

In December 1958, he met Martin Luther King Jr. in Montgomery, Alabama. This meeting started a friendship. It led to Ed King helping plan the 1960 civil rights sit-ins with Rev. Jim Lawson. In March 1960, Ed King was arrested for the first time in Montgomery for taking part in peaceful protests against unfair laws.

King earned two degrees from Boston University: a Master of Divinity in 1961 and a Master of Sacred Theology in 1963.

Other Studies

King also studied at the University of Michigan in 1956. He later attended Harvard Divinity School in 1966 on a special scholarship.

Leading the Way in Activism

Early Beliefs and Challenges

Like many white people from his background, King was taught to have a "noblesse oblige" attitude toward black people. This meant a feeling that they should help black people, but often in a way that kept things unequal. He later realized this was not true equality.

First Arrests for Justice

In March 1960, King took a break from his seminary studies. He volunteered in Montgomery, Alabama. He helped organize secret meetings where black students could meet white ministers and students. At first, King wanted to work quietly behind the scenes. He did not want to be arrested, as he hoped to become a pastor in a white church in Mississippi. But things changed.

While at a lunch meeting at the black-owned Regal Cafe, King was arrested. Police targeted activists linked to the SCLC. The local news highlighted the presence of "northern agitators," including King. He and others were found guilty of "disturbing the peace." Lawyers Fred Grey and Clifford Durr helped him. They convinced King that white ministers being arrested would greatly help the Civil Rights Movement.

When national news reported the story, King's family in Vicksburg was shocked. They saw a photo of him on TV. Years later, King wrote that his father was angry and blamed others for "misleading" him. White church leaders in Mississippi claimed King was influenced by "Communist teachers." His parents, who were still segregationists, faced attacks from groups like the Citizens' Councils. Neighbors and church members avoided them.

King was arrested a second time in Montgomery on June 7. This time, it was planned. King invited Rev. Elroy Embry, a black minister, to eat with him at a hotel dining room. Police arrested both ministers. They were found guilty of disorderly conduct and trespassing. King and Embry were sentenced to two weeks of hard labor. A local newspaper even published a photo of King in striped prison clothes. These arrests and King's growing involvement in civil rights ended his hopes of leading a white church in Mississippi.

Working at Tougaloo College

After his arrests, King and his wife, Jeannette, thought about moving away from Mississippi. But when James Meredith was admitted to the Ole Miss, it inspired them. They decided to return to Mississippi to join the growing Civil Rights Movement.

In 1962, Ernst Borinski told King that Tougaloo College needed a chaplain. Medgar Evers urged him directly, saying, "You have to come back because we need you." King's history as an activist who took risks helped him get the job. He later wrote that he "couldn't have done it if I had not had a prison record."

As chaplain, King thought he would mostly support student activists. But events soon pushed him into a more active role. Tougaloo became a central place for the Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi.

The Jackson Woolworth's Sit-in

In 1963, King took part in a peaceful protest that created some of the movement's most famous images. On May 28, he and a small group of Tougaloo students and teachers drove to downtown Jackson. They joined other protesters trying to eat at a whites-only lunch counter in the Woolworth's store. This sit-in was a small challenge to the unfair Jim Crow laws that denied black Americans basic rights.

King's job was to be a "spotter." This meant he would avoid arrest and give live phone updates to John Salter and Medgar Evers. King wore his minister's collar, which activists sometimes called a "bullet-proof vest." He stood behind three black students, Anne Moody, Pearlena Lewis, and Memphis Norman, who sat at the counter.

News of the sit-in spread fast. Soon, a crowd of angry white people gathered. They yelled mean things and threw food at the students. Some even hit and kicked the protesters. As the situation grew worse, King called Evers to report what was happening.

Police outside the store did not try to stop the violence. The only people arrested were some white protesters outside, including King's wife, Jeannette. King went outside to ask Police Captain John Lee Ray to protect the demonstrators. Ray refused, saying he could not interfere unless the store manager asked for help. King rushed back inside but could not find a manager who would admit to being in charge. He then called Tougaloo College's president, Dr. A. D. Beittel, who contacted national church leaders. The situation calmed down three hours later when the store finally closed on orders from its main office in New York City.

A few weeks later, King and John Salter were injured in a suspicious car crash. This happened just six days after Medgar Evers was killed in Jackson. Many believed the crash was an attack because of King's civil rights work. The crash broke King's jaw, causing injuries that needed many surgeries over the next 12 years.

Freedom Vote and Running for Office

In 1963, very few black citizens in the American South were allowed to vote. To show that black Americans wanted to vote, civil rights activists organized the Freedom Vote. This was a mock election held at the same time as the real Mississippi governor's race.

In October 1963, Bob Moses asked King to run for Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi. He would be the running mate for Aaron Henry, a black pharmacist who was the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP) candidate for Governor.

King and Henry campaigned together. They visited places where political rallies usually happened. Over 80,000 black Mississippians took part in the mock election. They cast votes in churches, beauty parlors, and black-owned gas stations. The Freedom Vote successfully showed that black Americans wanted to vote if they were free from harassment.

The Freedom Summer Project

Building on the success of the Freedom Vote, King became a main organizer for Freedom Summer in 1964. This project aimed to help black Mississippians get their right to vote. Unfair Jim Crow laws and rules had stopped them from registering. Over 1,000 volunteers, mostly white college students, came to Mississippi. They went into black communities, encouraging people to register and teaching them how to vote.

Ed and Jeannette King were deeply involved in Freedom Summer. They worked on voter registration, helped set up Freedom Schools, and supported the MFDP's challenge to the all-white Mississippi Democratic party. The project created "Freedom Houses" to shelter volunteers and opened community centers in towns across Mississippi.

Historian John Dittmer noted that by the summer of 1964, King was "the most visible white activist" in the Mississippi Civil Rights Movement. He faced many dangers for his beliefs, including arrests, beatings, and serious injuries.

King also worked to challenge and desegregate white churches. He believed that if white people, guided by their Christian faith, started to support changes in racial patterns, it would open the door for gradual change across Mississippi. His goal was to get white people involved and prevent violence when public schools were ordered to integrate in the fall of 1964.

MFDP Challenge at the 1964 Democratic Convention

State officials made it very hard for black people to register with the traditional Democratic party. So, civil rights activists focused on building the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP). This party offered a simpler and safer way to register. Black Mississippians could avoid unfair literacy tests and courthouses controlled by segregationists.

On August 6, 1964, the MFDP held a convention. They decided to challenge the official Mississippi Democratic party. They named their own group of delegates to attend the Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City, New Jersey. King was chosen as a National Committeeman and a leader of the MFDP. Other leaders included Victoria Gray, Lawrence Guyot, Fannie Lou Hamer, and Aaron Henry. Despite strong pressure from segregationist groups, the MFDP elected 68 delegates.

When they arrived in Atlantic City, the MFDP argued that the official Mississippi Democratic party delegates should not be allowed to participate. They said these delegates were chosen illegally through a segregated process. The MFDP asked the Credentials Committee to seat its own delegates instead. At the hearing, MFDP speakers included King, Fannie Lou Hamer, Aaron Henry, Martin Luther King, and Rita Schwerner. Hamer gave a powerful speech. She described how trying to register to vote led to her losing her job, being forced from her home, and receiving a terrible beating. Her story moved people across the nation and put pressure on the Democratic party.

Even though many Democrats supported the MFDP, party leaders worried that other Southern states would leave the party if the MFDP won.

The political discussions were intense. Party leaders, acting for President Lyndon B. Johnson, offered the MFDP two special seats. These would be filled by Aaron Henry and Ed King.

King believed it was unfair for President Johnson to choose the delegates. He thought the MFDP delegates should vote on who would represent them. King suggested a different plan: divide the two votes into four half-votes for Henry, King, Fannie Lou Hamer, and Victoria Gray.

Hubert Humphrey rejected this idea. He said President Johnson did not want an "illiterate woman" (Hamer) to speak at the convention. Aaron Henry later said about the offer, "Lyndon made the typical white man's mistake: Not only did he say, 'You've got two votes,' which was too little, but he told us to whom the two votes would go."

The MFDP delegation refused the offer. They left the convention rather than accept such a small representation. Some national media criticized the MFDP, saying they were not ready for politics.

MFDP National Committeeman and Delegate

From 1964 to 1968, King served as an MFDP National Committeeman on the Democratic National Committee. He also attended the Democratic National Convention in 1968 and 1972. In 2004, at the Democratic National Convention in Boston, Massachusetts, delegates honored Fannie Lou Hamer, King, and the other "outlaw" delegates. They were recognized for their work to end segregation in the Democratic party.

1966 Congressional Race

In 1966, King was chosen as the MFDP candidate for a Congressional seat. He ran against the current office holder, John Bell Williams. King received 22 percent of the vote, which was the best result for any MFDP candidate that year.

Delta Ministry

In 1967, King left Tougaloo College to focus on the Delta Ministry. This church group supported the Freedom Summer initiative. The Delta Ministry grew into a long-term project to help the Mississippi Delta region grow economically.

Methodist Board of Missions

In 1970, King joined the Methodist Board of Missions (now called Global Ministries). He worked as a special envoy, giving talks and sermons in New York and India. He and his family lived in India during 1971 while King researched nonviolence at the Mahatma Gandhi Peace Foundation.

ACLU Leadership

From 1973 to 1977, King was the president of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Mississippi. He was also a member of the ACLU's National Board.

Later Years

King continued to give many lectures about his experiences during the Civil Rights Movement. He often took part in political discussions. He spoke at universities and churches across the U.S., and even in Afghanistan and Moscow. He also helped with church services at Galloway United Methodist Church in Jackson.

Ed King's Mississippi: Behind the Scenes of Freedom Summer

In 2014, King worked with Trent Watts on a book called Ed King's Mississippi: Behind the Scenes of Freedom Summer. This book shares stories about civil rights activities in Mississippi during 1964. It includes King's personal accounts of important events. The book also has many never-before-seen photographs taken by King, including casual pictures of Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights workers.

Awards and Recognition

• John F. Kennedy Freedom Award, Catholic Council of Civil Liberties, 1965
• Merrill Fellowship, Harvard University, 1966
• President, ACLU of Mississippi, 1973–1977
• "Icon of the Civil Rights Movement", National Civil Rights Museum, 20th Annual Freedom Awards, 2011. The museum praised King's work with Medgar Evers in advancing civil rights. It noted that King's "outspoken and unwavering support of racial equality led to threats, violence, incarceration and often repudiation for his efforts."

Published Works

• Preface, Jackson, Mississippi: An American Chronicle of Struggle and Schism, by John R. Salter Jr., Bison Books, 2011 (paperback edition, reprint)
• Ed King's Mississippi: Behind the Scenes of Freedom Summer, with Trent Watts, University Press of Mississippi, Jackson, MS, 2014

See also

• Disfranchisement after the Reconstruction Era
• Sit-in movement