Abernathy

Born on March 11, 1926, in Linden, Alabama, Ralph D. Abernathy was a Baptist min­is­ter who, with Martin Luther King Jr., orga­nized the his­tor­i­cal Montgomery bus boy­cotts. He co-found­ed the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and was a major civ­il rights fig­ure, serv­ing as close advis­er to King and lat­er assum­ing SCLC pres­i­den­cy. Later return­ing to the min­istry, Abernathy died on April 17, 1990, in Atlanta, Georgia.

Early Years

Ralph David Abernathy Sr. was born on March 11, 1926, in Linden, Alabama, the 10^th of 12 off­spring born to Louivery Abernathy and William Abernathy, a farmer and dea­con. Upon grad­u­at­ing from high school, Abernathy was draft­ed into the U.S. Army dur­ing World War II, sub­se­quent­ly leav­ing his fam­i­ly’s 500-acre farm.Following his mil­i­tary ser­vice, in 1948, Abernathy became an ordained min­is­ter while pur­su­ing his edu­ca­tion. He earned a math­e­mat­ics degree from Alabama State College in 1950, and received a mas­ter’s degree in soci­ol­o­gy from Atlanta University the fol­low­ing year. He then became pas­tor of the First Baptist Church in Montgomery and dean of stu­dents at Alabama State. He also mar­ried Juanita Odessa Jones; the two would have four chil­dren togeth­er. http://​www​.biog​ra​phy​.com/​p​e​o​p​l​e​/​r​a​l​p​h​-​d​-​a​b​e​r​n​a​t​h​y​-​9​1​7​4​397