Dr. Joseph Lowery, a pioneer of the Civil Rights movement and recipient of the Medal of Honor under President Barack Obama, passed away on March 27, 2020, as reported by CBS 46. He was 98.
A cause of death was not immediately given. He was married to wife Evelyn Gibson Lowery from 1950 until her death in 2013. Together they had three daughters, Yvonne Kennedy, Karen Lowery, and Cheryl Lowery-Osborne.
Born on October 6, 1921, in Hunstville, Alabama, Reverend Joseph Lowery went on to study at Knoxville College, Payne College, and Theological Seminary. He earned his doctorate of divinity from the Chicago Ecumenical Insitute.
In the 1950s, he moved to Mobile, Alabama, where he was the head of the Alabama Civic Affairs Association, whose goal was to desegregate the bus system and public areas. Alabama then sued Lowery, along with numerous other ministers, on charges of libel and seized his property.
However, the Supreme Court sided with Lowery and his property returned. From this point on, he dedicated his life’s work to further the civil rights movement.
In 1957, Lowery became the vice president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. served as its president. Dr. Lowery later served as the SCLC’s president from 1977 to 1997.
With Dr. King’s encouragement, Lowery was a lead participant in the Selma to Montgomery March in 1965, a 54-mile marching protest in defiance of segregation, and pushing for African-American citizens to be given the right to vote.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/heavy.com/news/2020/03/dr-joseph-lowery-death/amp/
A cause of death was not immediately given. He was married to wife Evelyn Gibson Lowery from 1950 until her death in 2013. Together they had three daughters, Yvonne Kennedy, Karen Lowery, and Cheryl Lowery-Osborne.
Born on October 6, 1921, in Hunstville, Alabama, Reverend Joseph Lowery went on to study at Knoxville College, Payne College, and Theological Seminary. He earned his doctorate of divinity from the Chicago Ecumenical Insitute.
In the 1950s, he moved to Mobile, Alabama, where he was the head of the Alabama Civic Affairs Association, whose goal was to desegregate the bus system and public areas. Alabama then sued Lowery, along with numerous other ministers, on charges of libel and seized his property.
However, the Supreme Court sided with Lowery and his property returned. From this point on, he dedicated his life’s work to further the civil rights movement.
In 1957, Lowery became the vice president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. served as its president. Dr. Lowery later served as the SCLC’s president from 1977 to 1997.
With Dr. King’s encouragement, Lowery was a lead participant in the Selma to Montgomery March in 1965, a 54-mile marching protest in defiance of segregation, and pushing for African-American citizens to be given the right to vote.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/heavy.com/news/2020/03/dr-joseph-lowery-death/amp/
