Reeb, James (1929-1965)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1965 Mar 18 p. 1, 3

Birth date: 1929

text of obituary:

. . .

Minister's Death Spurs Nationwide Demonstrations

The fatal assault on Rev. James J. Reeb, 36, a Boston minister, by a white gang in racially troubled Selma, Ala., brought a weekend of demonstrations from New York to San Francisco and Detroit to New Orleans.

Reeb, who had joined two fellow white Unitarian ministers for a civil rights rally in Selma, died in a Birmingham hospital after a day and night of desperate efforts to save his life. He is the 10th person to die violently in Alabama racial strife since 1962.

Altogether some 300 churchmen from all over the nation had come to Selma in support of the voter rights campaign being carried on by Dr. Martin Luther King jr. and other negro leaders.

In Washington, a sit-in occurred even in thee White House when a group of pickets managed to get by the guards with a line of tourists. Over 4,000 ministers staged a rally in front of the Capitol building.

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1965 April 15 p. 3