Esther Burgess
Esther Julia Burgess (1911 – 2004; née Taylor) [1] was a nonviolent campaigner in the Civil Rights movement. She was the wife of Reverend John Melville Burgess, the first Black bishop within the American Episcopal Church.
St. Augustine Sit-in Protest
[edit]In March 1964, Mrs. Burgess travelled from her home in Newton, Massachusetts, to St. Augustine, Florida, as part of a delegation of both white and black church members inspired by Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.[2] She participated in a peaceful sit-in opposing segregation together with several other wives of ministers, including Mary Peabody, who was the wife of Reverend Malcolm Peabody, and the mother of Endicott Peabody, the sitting Governor of Massachusetts.[3] They were joined by Dr. Robert B. Hayling, a Black dentist who had studied nonviolent protest methods and was a local leader in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. After sitting in the restaurant at the Ponce de Léon Motor Lodge, Esther Burgess was arrested and went to jail along with Dr. Hayling.[4][5][6] When Mary Peabody then returned the next day to the restaurant with another group, she was also arrested and spent two nights in jail.[7]
The ensuing publicity called attention to the injustices of segregation. The mounting demonstrations in St. Augustine were part of the long build-up to the eventual passage three months later of the Civil Rights Act.[8][9]
Personal life
[edit]Esther Taylor was born in New Brunswick, Canada, one of five children. Their father was a farmer. She graduated with honors from Fredericton High School and worked as a stenographer before leaving Canada in 1943 to attend St. Augustine College in Raleigh, North Carolina.[10]
References
[edit]- ^ Obituary. (June 7, 2004). "Esther Julia Burgess was a Woman of Conviction". The Vineyard Gazette, Martha's Vineyard. Retrieved April 1, 2021.
- ^ Burgess, Esther J. (May 1964). "Witness at St. Augustine". The Church Militant: Diocese of Massachusetts. LXVII (5).
- ^ Shattuck, Jr, Gardiner H. (2003). Episcopalians and Race: Civil War to Civil Rights. University Press of Kentucky. p. 138. ISBN 978-0813190648.
- ^ Negri, Gloria (March 31, 1964). "Bishop's Wife Jailed in Florida". Boston Globe.
- ^ "ACCORD recognizes activists". The St. Augustine Record. July 11, 2011. Retrieved April 1, 2021.
- ^ Valentine, Harold (March 31, 1964). "Arrest of Robert Hayling and Esther Burgess". Associated Press Photograph, Flager College, Civil Rights Library of St. Augustine. Retrieved April 2, 2021.
- ^ Bates, Karen Grigsby (March 28, 2014). "Why a proper lady found herself behind bars". National Public Radio. Retrieved April 1, 2021.
- ^ Ashe, Ivy (February 4, 2015). "Civil Rights Story Set in St. Augustine". The Vineyard Gazette. Retrieved April 1, 2021.
- ^ King, Clennon L. (2015). "Passage at St. Augustine: Documentary Film". AugustineMonica.
- ^ Larner, Anne (April 2021). "Esther Taylor Burgess". Historic Newton. Retrieved April 9, 2021.