Ed King (activist) facts for kids

Ralph Edwin King Jr. (born September 20, 1936), known as Ed King, is a retired minister and educator. He was a very important person in the Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi. He helped with big events like the Jackson Woolworth’s sit-in in 1963 and the Freedom Summer project in 1964.

From 1963 to 1967, Rev. King worked as a chaplain and dean of students at Tougaloo College in Jackson, Mississippi. During this time, a historian named John Dittmer called King "the most visible white activist in the Mississippi movement." This means he was the most well-known white person working for civil rights there.

As chaplain at Tougaloo College, King worked with many famous civil rights leaders. These included Bob Moses from the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and Medgar Evers from the NAACP. He also worked with Dr. Martin Luther King from the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). Other important activists he worked with were Fannie Lou Hamer and Lawrence Guyot.

King also helped start the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP). He was a member of the Democratic National Committee. He was a delegate at three big Democratic National Conventions. In 2004, he and other MFDP members were honored. This was for their work 40 years earlier to end unfair racial rules in the Democratic party.

Early Life in Mississippi

Ed King was born on September 20, 1936, in Vicksburg, Mississippi. His parents were Ralph Edwin King Sr. and Julia Wilma Tucker King. His father was an engineer. His mother's family had lived in Mississippi for a long time.

Growing up in Vicksburg, Ed was interested in the American Civil War. He spent hours at the Vicksburg battlefield. He thought about how much war costs. When he was a teenager, he became a pacifist. This means he believed in peace and was against violence. He admired Mahatma Gandhi, who used peaceful protests. King later said he believed in peace before he had strong ideas about racial equality.

Ed was a good student. He won a scholarship to Millsaps College. This was a college many smart students wanted to attend.

Education and Activism

College Years (1954–1958)

Ed King went to Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi. This was a Methodist school. While he was there, he saw how much white people in Mississippi resisted the Supreme Court's decision to end segregation in schools. This decision was called Brown v. Board of Education.

At Millsaps, King went to 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. There, he met Medgar Evers and other Black civil rights leaders.

Boston University (1958–1963)

After Millsaps, King went to Boston University School of Theology. He joined groups that discussed religion, peace, and civil rights.

In 1958, he met Martin Luther King Jr. in Montgomery, Alabama. They became friends. This led Ed King to help plan civil rights sit-ins in 1960. A sit-in is a peaceful protest where people sit in a place they are not allowed to be. In March 1960, Ed King was arrested for the first time for these peaceful protests.

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

Key Civil Rights Actions

Early Arrests for Equality

Ed King was raised like many white people in the South. They believed they were helping Black people by giving them things. King later called this "a comfortable paternalism." He realized this was not true equality.

In March 1960, King helped organize secret meetings in Montgomery, Alabama. Black students met with white ministers and students. King wanted to work behind the scenes. He did not want to be arrested. He worried it would stop him from becoming a pastor in Mississippi. But things changed.

King was arrested at a Black-owned restaurant with 20 other people. The police targeted activists. The local news said "northern agitators" were there. King was found guilty of "disturbing the peace." His family in Vicksburg was shocked to see his photo on TV. White church leaders in Mississippi said King was influenced by "liberal Communist teachers."

King was arrested again in June. He invited a Black minister to eat with him at a hotel restaurant. The police arrested them both. They were sentenced to two weeks of hard labor. These arrests showed King that he could not be a pastor in a white church in Mississippi.

Working at Tougaloo College

After his arrests, Ed King and his wife, Jeannette, thought about moving away from Mississippi. But then James Meredith was admitted to Ole Miss. This inspired them to return. They wanted to be part of the growing civil rights movement in their home state.

In 1962, King became the chaplain at Tougaloo College. This was a mostly Black college. His history as an activist who had been arrested helped him get the job. He later said, "I couldn’t have done it if I had not had a prison record."

King thought he would just support students. But Tougaloo became a center for the civil rights movement in Mississippi. This pushed him into a more active role.

Jackson Woolworth’s Sit-in

In 1963, King helped with a famous protest. On May 28, he went with students and teachers from Tougaloo to downtown Jackson. They tried to eat at a whites-only lunch counter at the Woolworth's store. This was a small challenge to unfair Jim Crow laws.

King's job was to be a "spotter." He avoided arrest so he could call in reports. He wore his minister's collar. He stood behind three Black students who sat at the counter.

Many white people gathered. They yelled insults and threw food on the students. They even punched and kicked them. The police outside did nothing to stop the violence. King tried to get the police to help, but they refused. The store finally closed three hours later.

A few weeks later, King and another activist were hurt in a car crash. King's jaw was broken. He needed many surgeries over the next 12 years.

Freedom Vote and Running for Office

In 1963, very few Black people in the South could vote. To show that Black Americans wanted to vote, activists held a "Freedom Vote." This was a fake election. It happened at the same time as the real election for governor in Mississippi.

Ed King was asked to run for Lieutenant Governor in this Freedom Vote. He ran with Aaron Henry, a Black pharmacist, who ran for Governor. They campaigned together. Over 80,000 Black Mississippians voted in this mock election. They voted in churches and beauty parlors. The Freedom Vote showed that Black Americans wanted to vote if they were not scared of white people.

Freedom Summer (1964)

After the Freedom Vote, King became a leader for Freedom Summer in 1964. This project helped Black Mississippians register to vote. Over 1,000 volunteers came to Mississippi. Most were white college students. They went to Black communities. They encouraged people to register and taught them how to vote.

Ed and Jeannette King helped with voter registration. They also helped start Freedom Schools. These schools taught Black children about their history and rights. They also helped the MFDP challenge the all-white Mississippi Democratic party.

A historian said that by 1964, Ed King was "the most visible white activist" in Mississippi. He faced many dangers for his beliefs. He was arrested, beaten, and hurt in an attack.

King also worked to change white churches. He believed that if white people in churches supported racial change, it could open the door for change in all of Mississippi.

MFDP Challenge at the 1964 Democratic Convention

It was very hard for Black people to register with the regular Democratic party in Mississippi. So, civil rights activists created the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP). It was easier and safer to register with the MFDP.

In August 1964, the MFDP decided to challenge the regular Mississippi Democratic party. They chose their own delegates to go to the Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Ed King was chosen as a leader. Other leaders included Victoria Gray, Lawrence Guyot, Fannie Lou Hamer, and Aaron Henry. The MFDP elected 68 delegates.

At the convention, the MFDP said the regular Mississippi delegates were chosen unfairly. They asked the Credentials Committee to let their delegates sit instead. Fannie Lou Hamer gave a powerful speech. She described how she lost her job and was beaten for trying to register to vote. This speech made many people across the country support the MFDP.

Party leaders were worried that other Southern states would leave the party if the MFDP won. So, they offered the MFDP two "at-large" seats. This meant two MFDP members could attend. President Lyndon Johnson wanted Aaron Henry and Ed King to take these seats.

Ed King and Aaron Henry refused the offer. They felt it was unfair for Johnson to choose who would represent them. Henry said, "Lyndon made the typical white man's mistake... he told us to whom the two votes would go." The MFDP delegation left the convention. They did not want to accept such a small, unfair offer.

Later Political Work

From 1964 to 1968, King was a National Committeeman for the MFDP. He also went to the Democratic National Convention in 1968 and 1972. In 2004, he was honored at the Democratic National Convention. This was for his work to end segregation in the Democratic party.

In 1966, Ed King ran for Congress. He ran as an MFDP candidate. He got 22 percent of the vote. This was the best result for any MFDP candidate that year.

Delta Ministry and Other Roles

In 1967, King left Tougaloo College. He focused on the Delta Ministry. This church group supported the Freedom Summer project. It grew into a project to help the Mississippi Delta region grow economically.

In 1970, King joined the Methodist Board of Missions. He gave talks in New York and India. He and his family lived in India in 1971. He studied nonviolence there.

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

Recent Years

Ed King still gives many talks about his experiences in the civil rights movement. He speaks at universities and churches. He also helps with church services in Jackson, Mississippi.

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

In 2014, Ed King worked with Trent Watts on a book. It is called Ed King's Mississippi: Behind the Scenes of Freedom Summer. The book tells about civil rights activities in Mississippi in 1964. It includes King's personal stories and many photos he took. These photos show Martin Luther King Jr., Andrew Young, and other civil rights workers.

Awards

• John F. Kennedy Freedom Award, 1965
• Merrill Fellowship, Harvard University, 1966
• President, ACLU of Mississippi, 1973–1977
• "Icon of the Civil Rights Movement", National Civil Rights Museum, 2011. The museum honored King for his work with Medgar Evers. They also recognized his leadership of the MFDP. They said King's strong support for equality led to threats, violence, and being put in jail.

Published Works

• Preface, Jackson, Mississippi: An American Chronicle of Struggle and Schism, by John R. Salter Jr., 2011
• Ed King’s Mississippi: Behind the Scenes of Freedom Summer, with Trent Watts, 2014