William Sloane Coffin facts for kids

Quick facts for kids William Sloane Coffin
Coffin c. 1980
Church	United Church of Christ
Other posts	Riverside Church
Orders
Ordination	Presbyterian Church
Personal details
Birth name	William Sloane Coffin Jr.
Born	(1924-06-01)June 1, 1924 New York City, New York
Died	April 12, 2006(2006-04-12) (aged 81) Strafford, Vermont
Nationality	American
Denomination	Presbyterian, United Church of Christ
Spouse	Eva Rubinstein, Harriet Gibney, Virginia Randolph Wilson
Education	Yale College Union Theological Seminary
Alma mater	Yale Divinity School

William Sloane Coffin Jr. (born June 1, 1924 – died April 12, 2006) was an American Christian minister. He was also a strong activist for peace and human rights for many years.

He was first ordained in the Presbyterian Church. Later, he also became a minister in the United Church of Christ. In his younger days, he was a good athlete and a talented pianist. He even worked for the CIA for a time.

Later, he became the chaplain at Yale University. There, he became a key leader in the Civil Rights Movement and the peace movements of the 1960s and 1970s. He also served as the Senior Minister at the Riverside Church in New York City. He led SANE/Freeze (now Peace Action), which was the largest peace and social justice group in the United States. He spoke out against U.S. military actions, from the Vietnam War to the Iraq War. He also strongly supported equal rights for all people.

William Sloane Coffin's Life Story

Early Years and Family

William Sloane Coffin Jr. was born into a well-known family in New York City. His great-grandfather, William Sloane, was from Scotland. He helped own a very successful company called W. & J. Sloane. William's uncle, Henry Sloane Coffin, was a famous minister. He was also the president of Union Theological Seminary. William's father, William Sloane Coffin, Sr., was president of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He also worked in the family business.

William's mother, Catherine Butterfield, grew up in the Midwest. During World War I, she helped soldiers in France. There, she met William's father, who was also doing charity work. Their three children learned French from their nanny. They went to private schools in New York.

William's grandfather, Edmund Coffin, was a lawyer and real estate developer. He owned a company that fixed up and rented homes for people with lower incomes. When Edmund died in 1928, his sons William and Henry took over the business. William managed it. When the Great Depression started in 1929, William let people stay in their homes even if they couldn't pay rent. This quickly used up his own money.

In 1933, William Sr. died from a heart attack. After this, his mother Catherine moved the family to Carmel, California. This made life more affordable. His uncle Henry helped them financially. After going to exclusive private schools, William and his siblings went to public schools in Carmel. This is where William first realized that there was unfairness in the world.

William was a talented musician. He loved the piano and wanted to become a concert pianist. His uncle Henry encouraged him to attend Deerfield Academy in 1938.

In 1939, William moved to Paris with his mother. He was 15 years old. He took piano lessons from famous teachers like Nadia Boulanger. When World War II reached France in 1940, the Coffins moved to Geneva, Switzerland. Then they returned to the United States. William then enrolled at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts.

College and Early Career

After finishing high school in 1942, William went to Yale College. He studied music there. He still loved playing the piano. But he also wanted to help fight against fascism. He became very focused on joining the war effort. In 1943, he tried to become a spy for the Office of Strategic Services. But he was not accepted.

He then left college and joined the Army. He quickly became an officer. He worked with the French and Russian armies in military intelligence. He heard stories about life in Stalin's USSR. Records show he was part of the Ritchie Boys, a group trained for intelligence work.

After the war, Coffin returned to Yale. He became the president of the Yale Glee Club. Coffin had been friends with George H. W. Bush since they were young. They both went to Phillips Academy. In his senior year, Bush invited Coffin to join the secret society Skull and Bones at Yale.

After graduating in 1949, Coffin went to Union Theological Seminary. He stayed there for a year. When the Korean War started, he became interested again in fighting communism. In 1950, he joined the CIA as a case officer. He spent three years in West Germany. There, he recruited Russian refugees who were against the Soviet Union. He trained them to work against Stalin's government.

Coffin became less and less happy with the CIA's role. He was concerned about some of the CIA's actions and how they affected other countries.

Becoming a Minister and Activist

After leaving the CIA, Coffin went to Yale Divinity School. He earned his degree in 1956. In the same year, he became a Presbyterian minister. He married Eva Rubinstein, who was the daughter of the famous pianist Arthur Rubinstein. He became a chaplain at Williams College. Soon after, he became the Chaplain of Yale University. He stayed there from 1958 to 1975. He had a deep voice and was an active member of the Yale Russian Chorus.

Because of his CIA background, he was upset when he learned about French and American involvement in South Vietnam in 1964. He felt the U.S. should have honored an agreement to hold a vote in Vietnam about unification. He was one of the first people to speak out against the Vietnam War. He became well-known for his anti-war activities and his work for civil rights. In the early 1960s, he helped start a group called Clergy and Laity Concerned About Vietnam. This group worked to resist President Lyndon Johnson's decision to increase the war.

Coffin played an important role in the Freedom Rides. These rides challenged segregation and unfair treatment of Black people. As chaplain at Yale, Coffin organized buses of Freedom Riders. They traveled to the South to challenge segregation laws. Because of his efforts, many students at Yale and other schools joined civil rights and anti-war activities. He was put in jail many times. But his first conviction was later overturned by the Supreme Court.

In 1962, he joined SANE: The Committee for a SANE Nuclear Policy. He would later become the leader of this organization.

In 1961, Sargent Shriver asked Coffin to lead the first training programs for the Peace Corps. Coffin took a break from Yale to do this. He created a strong training program. He also oversaw the building of a training camp in Puerto Rico. He used his position as a minister to host other important leaders. These included Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and Nelson Mandela. The comic strip Doonesbury has a character named "Rev. Scot Sloan" who is partly based on Coffin. During the Vietnam War, Coffin and his friend Howard Zinn often spoke together against the war. Coffin was an inspiring speaker known for his positive attitude and humor. He once said, "Remember, young people, even if you win the rat race, you're still a rat."

By 1967, Coffin focused more on encouraging civil disobedience. He supported young men who turned in their draft cards. He signed an open letter called "A Call to Resist Illegitimate Authority." This letter was printed in several newspapers in October 1967. He also thought about making Battell Chapel at Yale a safe place for those resisting the draft. The school did not allow this.

On January 5, 1968, Coffin and others were accused of "conspiracy to counsel, aid and abet draft resistance." This means they were accused of helping people avoid the draft. They were convicted in June, but in 1970, a court overturned the decision. Coffin remained chaplain of Yale until December 1975.

In 1977, he became the senior minister at the Riverside Church. This church is in New York City and is very well-known. Coffin was a leader who inspired many, even though some of his views were debated. He gave sermons like "It's a Sin to Build a Nuclear Weapon." During the Iran hostage crisis, he preached "And Pray for the Iranians, Too." Coffin openly supported equal rights for all people.

Working for Nuclear Disarmament

Coffin started a strong program at Riverside Church to work for nuclear disarmament. This means reducing or getting rid of nuclear weapons. He hired Cora Weiss, whom he had worked with during the Vietnam War. He traveled to North Vietnam with her in 1972 to bring back three released U.S. prisoners of war.

He also reached out to people around the world. He met with many world leaders and traveled abroad. He visited Iran in 1979 to lead Christmas services for American hostages. He also went to Nicaragua to protest U.S. military actions there.

In 1987, he left Riverside Church to work full-time for disarmament. He said it was the most important issue for a person of faith. He became president of SANE/FREEZE (now Peace Action). This was the largest peace and justice group in the United States. He retired in the early 1990s. After that, he taught and gave speeches across the U.S. and in other countries. Coffin also wrote several books. He warned that we are all living "in the shadow of Doomsday." He urged people to be more aware of global issues and not to isolate themselves. Before he died, Coffin started Faithful Security. This group brought together people of faith to work for a world without nuclear weapons.

Personal Life

Coffin was married three times. His first two marriages ended in divorce. He was survived by his third wife, Virginia Randolph Wilson, known as "Randy." His first wife, Eva Rubinstein, was the mother of his children. The death of their son Alexander, at age 24, in a car accident in 1983, inspired one of Coffin's most requested sermons. His son, David Coffin, is a folk musician.

In early 2004, doctors told him he had only six months to live because of a weak heart. Coffin and his wife lived in Strafford, Vermont. He passed away almost two years later, at age 81.

Military Awards

• American Campaign Medal
• European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal
• World War II Victory Medal
• Army of Occupation Medal with "Germany" clasp

Books

Books by Coffin

• Letters to a Young Doubter, Westminster John Knox Press, July 2005, ISBN: 0-664-22929-8
• Credo, Westminster John Knox Press, December 2003, ISBN: 0-664-22707-4
• The Heart Is a Little to the Left: Essays on Public Morality, Dartmouth College, 1st edition, October 1999, ISBN: 0-87451-958-6
• The Courage to Love, sermons, Harper & Row, 1982, ISBN: 0-06-061508-7
• Once to Every Man: A Memoir, autobiography, Athenaeum Press, 1977, ISBN: 0-689-10811-7

Books About Coffin

• William Sloane Coffin, Jr.: A Holy Impatience, by Warren Goldstein, Yale University Press, March 2004, ISBN: 0-300-10221-6
• The Trial of Dr. Spock, William Sloane Coffin, Michael Ferber, Mitchell Goodman, and Marcus Raskin, by Jessica Mitford, New York, Knopf, 1969 ISBN: 0-394-44952-5

In Popular Culture

The character Reverend Scot Sloan in the comic strip Doonesbury is partly named after William Sloane Coffin.

See also

• List of peace activists