In March 1960 the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. preached in the Princeton Chapel. The chapel deacons had dinner with the famed civil-rights leader after his sermon. The Rev. Ernest Gordon, then dean of the chapel, recalled King’s “clear, ringing voice.” Were you at the Chapel service? Can you identify the deacons? Let us know at paw@princeton.edu.
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4 Responses
Charles Frisbie ’61
4 Years AgoThe guy in the glasses wearing a bow tie is the late John McConnell ’61. I think that the man to his left is Jeff Brown ’60. I should think that if someone were to go through the 1960 Nassau Herald and compare Jeff’s picture in it to the Student Deacon picture, one could be sure.
Charles Ruas '60 *70
4 Years AgoThe deacon shaking hands with Dr. Martin Luther King is Charles Aubry '60. Two other deacons are also from the Class of '60, but I do not recollect their name.
John N. McConnell ’61
5 Years AgoYou asked about the names of the individuals with Dr. King in the photo. I will confess that I am the individual with the bow tie to his right.
Lowell Fewster ’61
5 Years AgoRe From the Archives (April 24): I vividly recall Martin Luther King Jr. preaching at the Chapel. It was March 13, 1960, and I read the Scripture: First Thessalonians 2:1-8. I recall this because I so marked these verses in my study Bible and noted that the passage provides applicability to the peaceful resistance of the sit-ins and demonstrations in the South. I was the leader of the Baptist students at Princeton, which may have been why I was chosen as reader. (At the time I was also national president of the Baptist Student Movement of American Baptists, U.S.A.) I had just returned from a meeting of the National Student Christian Federation, where we had formulated a statement in affirmation of the sit-ins and civil rights. I gave a copy to Dr. King and explained briefly our support for these causes. I am very honored to have had the opportunity to meet and participate in worship with him.
I later worked at Colgate Rochester Divinity School/Bexley Hall/Crozer Theological Seminary. Crozer was where Dr. King studied and received his first theological degree. His nephew came as a student, and I was honored to help arrange the visits of Coretta Scott King and her sister, as well as King’s father, “Daddy King,” on different occasions at the school.