by

Lowery

Joseph Lowery
Joseph Lowery

Joseph Lowery was born on October 6, 1921, in Huntsville, Alabama. In 1952, he became pas­tor for the Warren Street United Methodist Church in Mobile. There, he helped launch a dri­ve to end dis­crim­i­na­tion in Mobile. In 1957, Lowery helped form the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and in 1968, he became the SCLC’s chair­man. After retir­ing, he con­tin­ued to fight against social injustice.“Work for that day … when jus­tice will roll down like waters and right­eous­ness as a mighty stream.”

Early Life

Born Joseph Echols Lowery on October 6, 1921, (some sources say 1924) in Huntsville, Alabama. For more than 50 years, Reverend Joseph Lowery has fought against prej­u­dice and dis­crim­i­na­tion on behalf of the African-American com­mu­ni­ty. He earned him­self the nick­name the “dean of the civ­il rights move­ment.” Lowery, the son of a teacher and a busi­ness­man, grew up in the seg­re­gat­ed South. He knew first­hand the hard­ships and cru­el­ty that many African-Americans expe­ri­enced. At the age of 12, Lowery was beat­en by a white police offi­cer after he acci­den­tal­ly bumped into the law enforce­ment offi­cial. He grad­u­at­ed from high school in 1939 and then stud­ied at sev­er­al col­leges, includ­ing Wayne State University and Knoxville College. After com­plet­ing a bach­e­lor’s degree at Paine College in Augusta, Georgia, Lowery fol­lowed a spir­i­tu­al call­ing. He grad­u­at­ed from the Chicago Ecumenical Institute in 1950 with a doc­tor­ate in divinity.

Civil Rights Career

An ordained Methodist min­is­ter, Lowery returned to Alabama in 1952 to serve as pas­tor for the Warren Street United Methodist Church in Mobile. There, he became active in the emerg­ing civ­il rights move­ment. Inspired by the resis­tance shown regard­ing the seg­re­gat­ed bus­ing sys­tem in Montgomery, Lowery helped launch a dri­ve to end the same dis­crim­i­na­to­ry prac­tices in Mobile.

In 1957, Lowery worked with the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Ralph David Abernathy, and oth­ers to form the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). He became the orga­ni­za­tion’s vice pres­i­dent and helped the group with its efforts to fight for equal­i­ty through non­vi­o­lent actions. Lowery stayed true to his con­vic­tions at a great per­son­al cost at times.

He and sev­er­al mem­bers of the SCLC were sued for libel by a Montgomery com­mis­sion­er because of a 1960 news­pa­per ad that made cri­tiques of the city’s police depart­ment. Lowery’s assets were seized when the court ruled against the SCLC mem­bers. They appealed the case, which was final­ly over­turned by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1964. http://​www​.biog​ra​phy​.com/​p​e​o​p​l​e​/​j​o​s​e​p​h​-​l​o​w​e​r​y​-​1​1​388