Rev. Ralph David Abernathy

Corretta Scot King, the Rev. Ralph D. Abernathy and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. confer after leaving a court hearing. Boycott leaders heard during the hearing that the U.S. Supreme Court had ruled in favor of the bus boycotters in the Browder vs. Gayle lawsuit, clearing the way for the boycott to end. (From Montgomery Advertiser files)

Along with Martin Luther King Jr., the Rev. Ralph Abernathy was among the ministers in Montgomery most vocal against segregated buses and the treatment of blacks in the Capital City.

The son of a farmer, Abernathy served in the Army during World War II and afterward enrolled at Alabama State University, in Montgomery, graduating with a degree in mathematics in 1950. His involvement in political activism began in college, when he led demonstrations protesting the lack of heat and hot water in his dormitory and the food served in the cafeteria.

In 1951, he earned an M.A. in sociology from Atlanta University (later Clark Atlanta University) and then became pastor of the First Baptist Church in Montgomery. History would solidify the bond between Abernathy and King, who had known each other through their ministerial backgrounds. Abernathy occasionally visited Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta to hear a young King preach. Their relationship grew stronger when King relocated to Montgomery to lead then-Dexter Avenue Baptist Church.

Abernathy also worked with King in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference as its secretary-treasurer. Abernathy was with King in Memphis when King was assassinated in April 1968. Abernathy resigned in 1977 amid accusations of financial mismanagement. He later ran for a Georgia congressional seat and lost.

In 1989, his autobiography, And the Walls Came Tumbling Down, was published.