James Reeb was a white Unitarian minister from Boston, Massachusetts while marching for civil rights in Selma, Alabama, on March 12 1965 he was beaten to death by segregationists^*.

James Reeb was born in Wichita, Kansas, on 1st January, 1927. A Unitarian minister, Reeb was active in the civil rights movement. Until a few months before his death, he had been Assistant Minister at All Souls Church, Unitarian in Washington, DC.

A member of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), Reeb took part in the Selma to Montgomery protest march in 1965. While in Selma on 8th March, Reeb was attacked by white mob with clubs. Reeb, who suffered massive head injuries, died in hospital two days later. His death resulted in a national outcry against the activities of white racists in the Deep South.

President Lyndon B. Johnson declared the events in Selma "an American tragedy," which, he said, should strengthen people's determination "to bring full and equal and exact justice to all of our people." Johnson's voting rights proposal reached Congress the Monday after Reeb's death.

The James Reeb Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Madison, Wisconsin is named in honor of Rev. Reeb.

1965 deaths | Unitarians