Howard Thurman facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Howard Thurman
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 Thurman at Howard University (1932–1944)
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Howard Washington Thurman
November 18, 1899 Daytona Beach, Florida, United States
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| Died | April 10, 1981 (aged 81) San Francisco, California, United States
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| Alma mater |
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| Occupation | Minister, theologian, author, dean |
| Organization | Howard University Church for the Fellowship of All Peoples Boston University |
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Notable work
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Jesus and the Disinherited (1949) |
Howard Washington Thurman (November 18, 1899 – April 10, 1981) was an important American writer, thinker, teacher, and civil rights leader. He was a leading religious figure who helped many social justice movements in the 1900s.
Thurman believed in "radical nonviolence." This idea greatly influenced a generation of civil rights activists. He was a key mentor to leaders like Martin Luther King Jr.
Thurman served as the dean of Rankin Chapel at Howard University from 1932 to 1944. Later, he was the dean of Marsh Chapel at Boston University from 1953 to 1965. In 1944, he helped start the first major church in the United States that welcomed people of all races and different Christian groups. This church was called the Church for the Fellowship of All Peoples.
Howard Thurman passed away on April 10, 1981, in San Francisco, California.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Howard Thurman was born in 1899 in Daytona Beach, Florida. He grew up in Waycross, one of Daytona's Black communities. His grandmother, Nancy Ambrose, had been enslaved. She and Thurman's mother, Alice, were very religious. They were members of Mount Bethel Baptist Church.
Thurman's father, Saul Thurman, died when Howard was seven years old. After finishing eighth grade, Howard went to the Florida Baptist Academy in Jacksonville. This was one of only three high schools for African Americans in Florida at that time.
In 1923, Thurman graduated from Morehouse College. He was the best student in his class, known as the valedictorian. In 1925, he became a Baptist minister. He was still a student at Rochester Theological Seminary (now Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School). He graduated from there in 1926, again as the valedictorian.
After seminary, Thurman worked as a pastor in Ohio. In 1928, he moved to Atlanta, Georgia. There, he taught philosophy and religion at Morehouse College and Spelman College. He also studied with Rufus Jones, a famous Quaker thinker.
Career and Influence
In 1932, Thurman became the first dean of Rankin Chapel at Howard University in Washington, D.C.. He worked there until 1944. He also taught at the Howard University School of Divinity.
Thurman traveled a lot, leading Christian missions and meeting important people around the world. In 1935-36, he visited India with a group of African Americans. They met with Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi asked many questions about the struggles of Black Americans. He also said that the message of nonviolence might be spread to the world through African Americans.
In 1944, Thurman left Howard University. He helped start the Church for the Fellowship of All Peoples in San Francisco. This was a special church because it was the first major church in the U.S. that welcomed people of all races. Thurman served as co-pastor with a white minister, Alfred Fisk. Many people who joined were African Americans who had moved to San Francisco for jobs. The church helped them find a new community.
In 1953, Thurman was invited to Boston University. He became the dean of Marsh Chapel and was the first Black dean of a chapel at a mostly white university in the U.S. He also taught at the Boston University School of Theology. Thurman was well-known in Boston and influenced many leaders there.
After leaving Boston University in 1965, Thurman continued his work. He led the Howard Thurman Educational Trust in San Francisco until he passed away in 1981.
Thurman wrote many books about religion and philosophy. His most famous book, Jesus and the Disinherited (1949), greatly influenced Martin Luther King Jr. and other leaders of the modern Civil Rights Movement. Thurman had been friends with King's father in college. King visited Thurman while studying at Boston University. Thurman became a spiritual guide for King and other important civil rights leaders.
Marriage and Family
Thurman married Katie Kelley in 1926. Their daughter, Olive, was born in 1927. Katie passed away in 1930 from tuberculosis.
In 1932, Thurman married Sue Bailey. They had met in college. Their daughter, Anne, was born in 1933. Sue Bailey Thurman was also a writer, speaker, historian, and civil rights activist. She passed away in 1996.
Honors and Legacy
In 1974, Thurman was honored as an honorary Canon of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City.
Ebony Magazine called Thurman one of the 50 most important figures in African-American history. In 1953, Life magazine named him one of the twelve most important religious leaders in the United States.
In 1986, the Howard Thurman Center was started at Boston University. Its goal is to keep Thurman's ideas and work alive. The Boston University library also keeps his writings and papers for people to study.
The Howard Thurman Papers Project began in 1992. This project works to save and share Thurman's many writings, sermons, and speeches. Howard University School of Divinity named their chapel the Thurman Chapel in his memory.
Howard Thurman's poem 'I Will Light Candles This Christmas' has been turned into music by Adrian Payne.
Works by Howard Thurman
Howard Thurman wrote many books that shared his ideas and beliefs. Some of his well-known books include:
- The Greatest of These (1944)
- Deep River: Reflections on the Religious Insight of Certain of the Negro Spirituals (1945)
- Jesus and the Disinherited (1949)
- Deep is the Hunger: Meditations for Apostles of Sensitiveness (1951)
- Meditations of the Heart (1953)
- The Creative Encounter: An Interpretation of Religion and the Social Witness (1954)
- The Luminous Darkness: A Personal Interpretation of the Anatomy of Segregation and the Ground of Hope (1965)
- The Search for Common Ground (1971)
- With Head and Heart: The Autobiography of Howard Thurman (1979)
See also
In Spanish: Howard Thurman para niños
