Howard Thurman | |
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![]() Thurman at Howard University (1932–1944) | |
Born | Howard Washington Thurman November 18, 1899 Daytona Beach, Florida, United States |
Died | April 10, 1981 San Francisco, California, United States | (aged 81)
Alma mater | |
Occupation(s) | Minister, theologian, author, dean |
Organization(s) | Howard University Church for the Fellowship of All Peoples Boston University |
Notable work | Jesus and the Disinherited (1949) |
Howard Washington Thurman (November 18, 1899 – April 10, 1981) was an American author, philosopher, theologian, Christian mystic, educator, and civil rights leader. As a prominent religious figure, he played a leading role in many social justice movements and organizations of the twentieth century.[1] Thurman's theology of radical nonviolence influenced and shaped a generation of civil rights activists, and he was a key mentor to leaders within the civil rights movement, including Martin Luther King Jr.
Thurman served as dean of Rankin Chapel at Howard University from 1932 to 1944 and as dean of Marsh Chapel at Boston University from 1953 to 1965. In 1944, he co-founded, along with Alfred Fisk, the first major interracial, interdenominational church in the United States.[2]