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DeminPennswoods

(16,244 posts)
Wed Jan 23, 2019, 02:53 PM Jan 2019

RIP (former Senator) Harris Wofford

One of the little known heroes of the civil rights movement. Fitting that he passed away on Monday, the day we celebrated MLK's birthday and legacy.

Obit from Pgh Post-Gazette:https://www.post-gazette.com/news/politics-state/2019/01/22/Harris-Wofford-civil-rights-activist-who-helped-Kennedy-win-White-House-dies-at-92/stories/201901220082

Well before Mr. Wofford pursued elective office, the self-described “New Deal Democrat” was known as a civil rights activist who participated in King’s 1965 march from Selma to Montgomery, Ala. Mr. Wofford was among the first whites to graduate from Howard University Law School.

Working on Mr. Kennedy’s 1960 presidential campaign, Mr. Wofford arranged a meeting between the candidate and Mr. King. And when Mr. King was arrested for participating in an Atlanta sit-in, Mr. Wofford advised that Mr. Kennedy call and offer sympathy to the reverend’s wife, Coretta Scott King.

That call has been credited with helping swing the election in Mr. Kennedy’s favor, after word of the gesture spread through black communities nationwide, helped by leaflets on blue paper the campaign quietly distributed at Mr. Wofford’s direction.
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RIP (former Senator) Harris Wofford (Original Post) DeminPennswoods Jan 2019 OP
a reminder KT2000 Jan 2019 #1
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