Mathew Ahmann
American civil rights activist (1931–2001) / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Mathew H. Ahmann (September 10, 1931 – December 31, 2001) was an American Catholic layman and civil rights activist. He was a leader of the Catholic Church's involvement in the Civil Rights Movement, and in 1960 founded and became the executive director of the National Catholic Council for Interracial Justice.[1]
Mathew H. Ahmann | |
---|---|
Born | Matthew Ahmann (1931-09-10)September 10, 1931 |
Died | December 31, 2001(2001-12-31) (aged 70) Washington, D.C., US |
Alma mater | College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University (1952) |
Occupation | Activist |
Spouse | Margaret C. Ahmann |
Children | 6 |
By initiating the 1963 National Conference on Religion and Race, Ahmann worked to establish the civil rights movement as a moral cause. He was one of four white men who joined the "Big Six" to organize the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. He gave a speech during the march that preceded the "I Have a Dream" speech of Martin Luther King Jr.[2] Following the Civil Rights Movement, he directed several civil rights and Catholic service initiatives.[3] He is not commonly thought of when thinking of the civil rights movement but has been said to have acted as a catalyst for the Catholic Church's involvement in the movement.[4]