Reverend Julius James

Julius James was born in 1918 [1]. After serving in the U.S Army, James graduated from Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1952, and the Morehouse School of Religion in 1954 [2]. James was a close friend with fellow Morehouse classmate Martin Luther King, Jr. [3] Reverend James served as pastor of Shiloh Baptist Church and Zion Hill Baptist Church in Georgia, [4] before accepting the call to become the Pastor of St. John Baptist Church in Gary, Indiana in October 1955 [5]. From 1959 to 1960, James served as president of the Baptist Minister’s Conference in Gary [6]. He was also involved in labor movements in Gary, walking among the picketers in the 1959 Steel Strike and supplying meals to protestors [7].

Reverend James brought the Civil Rights movement to St. John Baptist Church by hosting meetings and planning sessions for civil rights organizations in the late 1950’s and early 1960s. He invited prominent African American leaders to speak, including Jesse Jackson and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. [8] His civil rights work in the community included serving as president of the Gary branch of the NAACP in the late 1950s [9]. James founded the “Gary Freedom Movement,” which coordinated economic boycotts of businesses that opposed civil rights legislation [10]. On posters, citizens were urged to “Sacrifice for Freedom in Gary. Don’t Buy Anything Anywhere for Easter. Wear Your Old Clothes for New Dignity. Boycott" [11]. In 1964, James organized a Christmas shopping boycott to protest businesses who opposed the Omnibus Civil Rights Bill [12].This organization later became the Gary Freedom Movement Council, and James served as chairman [13]. In the mid-1960s, he brought famous African Americans to the Gary for speaking engagements, including comedian and civil rights activist Dick Gregory, who encouraged 900 Gary residents to practice “selective shopping” at stores outside of Gary to protest continued racial injustice [14].

In recognition of his civil rights leadership, Reverend James was awarded the NAACP’s Mary White Ovington Award in 1964 for outstanding contributions to sustaining civil rights [15]. In March 1965, James bussed a group of congregants from St. John Baptist Church south to Atlanta to join the march from Selma to the state’s capital in Montgomery led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The protest march was in support of the supported the Voting Rights Act, prohibiting racial discrimination in voting. At home in Gary, James coordinated meetings between Dr. King and local Gary African American leaders. In 1966, Gary Mayor Richard Hatcher met Dr. King for the first time when Rev. James brought King to speak at St. John Baptist Church [16]. Dr. King spoke to 275 clergymen of various faiths at St. John Baptist Church, emphasizing interfaith solidarity [17].

Fair housing practices later became a focus of Reverend James’ activism. Under his leadership, St. John Baptist Church purchased a rundown housing complex at 22nd and Carolina Streets. Using government grants, the church remodeled the housing complex into the St. John Homes, which operated as one of the only viable non-profit housing developments in the U.S. until 1984 [18]. James founded the Fair Share Organization, focused on fair housing and employment practices, [19] with Cherrie White, secretary of the Gary NAACP, and Richard Gordon Hatcher, Gary’s first African America mayor [20].

Rev. James was inducted into the Steel City Hall of Fame in 1987, for making “broad, significant, and multiple contributions to the Gary community or to society at large" [21]. Rev. James died in 1994, after a lifetime dedicated to civil rights in Indiana and the nation [22].

[1] Correspondence from Julius James (Shiloh Baptist Church) to Martin Luther King, Jr, March 14, 1955. The Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute. Accessed on February 5, 2021. https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/king-papers/documents/julius-james.
[2] Correspondence from Julius James, March 14, 1955.
[3] Becky Jacobs. “Man killed in Gary was great-grandson of pastor, civil rights activist.” Chicago Tribune, February 22, 2019. Accessed on February 5, 2021. https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/ct-ptb-julius-james-death-st-0213-story.html.
[4] Correspondence from Julius James, March 14, 1955.
[5] “Our Community.” St. John Baptist Church. Accessed on February 5, 2021. http://stjohnbcgary.com/community/
[6] Correspondence from Julius James, March 14, 1955.
[7] “Our Community.”
[8] “Our Community.”
[9] Correspondence from Julius James, March 14, 1955.
[10] James B. Lane. City of the Century: A History of Gary, Indiana. Indiana University Press, 1978, pp. 281.
[11] James H. Madison and Lee Ann Sandweiss. Chapter 11: Justice, Equality, and Democracy for All Hoosiers in Justice, Equality, and Democracy for All Hoosiers. http://indianahistory.org/wp-content/uploads/Hoosiers-and-the-American-Story-ch-11.pdf
[12] Becky Jacobs. “Man killed in Gary was great-grandson of pastor, civil rights activist.”
[13] “Gary woman heads Ind. Conference of NAACP.” Indianapolis Recorder, Indianapolis, Marion County, 6 November 1965, pp. 12. Hoosier States Chronicles. Accessed February 5, 2021. https://newspapers.library.in.gov/cgi-bin/indiana?a=d&d=INR19651106-01.1.12&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN-------
[14] “Gregory Endorses Boycott.” Indianapolis Recorder, Indianapolis, Marion County, 23 January 1965, pp. 6. Hoosier States Chronicles. Accessed February 5, 2021. https://newspapers.library.in.gov/cgi-bin/indiana?a=d&d=INR19650123-01.1.6&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN-------
[15] “Gary woman heads Ind. Conference of NAACP.”
[16] Joyce Russell. “Local residents recall the legacy of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. on the 50th anniversary of his death.” NWI.com. Accessed February 5, 2021. https://www.nwitimes.com/news/history/local-residents-recall-the-legacy-of-the-rev-martin-luther-king-jr-on-the-50th/article_9eb318e4-92e1-5fcd-b0a1-27058351c345.html
[17] Nancy Coltun Webster. “MILK’s life remembered as Northwest Indiana leaders continue to struggle.” Chicago Tribune, April 4, 2018. https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/ct-ptb-king-anniversary-indiana-st-0404-20180403-story.html
[18] “Our Community.”
[19] Correspondence from Julius James, March 14, 1955.
[20] Carmen M. Woodson-Wray and Gary Crusader. “After 103 years Cherrie White has truly had a productive life.” Crusader. Accessed on February 5, 2021. https://chicagocrusader.com/103-years-cherrie-white-truly-productive-life/ [21] “Steel City hall of Fame.” Gary Public Library. Accessed February 5, 2021. http://www.garypubliclibrary.org/steel-city-hall-of-fame/
[22] “Our Community.”

Student Author: Emma Cieslik
Faculty/Staff Editors: Dr. Ronald V. Morris, Dr. Kevin C. Nolan, and Christine Thompson
Graduate Assistant Researchers: Carrie Vachon and JB Bilbrey

PHOTO & VIDEO:
Sacrifice: Join Rev. Martin Luther King, Indiana Historical Society.
https://images.indianahistory.org/digital/collection/V0002/id/1148/rec/2