Archives

At a time of the Watts riots, Selma marches, and great tensions between blacks and white, Jonathan Daniels, a twenty-six year old white Keene born Episcopal seminarian went south to join the civil rights movement. While protecting a young black woman in Alabama, Daniels was shot and killed by a white law enforcement officer. The shooter would later be acquitted and Daniels considered the first martyr of the civil rights movement from New England. Forty years after his death we look back at the life of Jonathon Daniels and at this volatile time in history. Kevin's guests are Larry Benaquist, Chair of Film Studies at Keene State College and William Sullivan, co-collaborator with Benaquist on a documentary on Jonathan Daniels called "Here Am I, Send Me: The Journey of Jonathan Daniels". We'll also hear from Jack Pratt, who was Legal Counsel for the Commission on Religion and Race for The National Council of Churches in the early 1960's.