The Story of Jonathan Daniels

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By Kevin Gardner on Monday, August 22, 2005.
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At a time of the Watts riots, Selma marches, and great tensions between blacks and white, Jonathan Daniels, a twenty-six year old white Keene born Episcopal seminarian went south to join the civil rights movement. While protecting a young black woman in Alabama, Daniels was shot and killed by a white law enforcement officer. The shooter would later be acquitted and Daniels considered the first martyr of the civil rights movement from New England. Forty years after his death we look back at the life of Jonathon Daniels and at this volatile time in history. Kevin's guests are Larry Benaquist, Chair of Film Studies at Keene State College and William Sullivan, co-collaborator with Benaquist on a documentary on Jonathan Daniels called "Here Am I, Send Me: The Journey of Jonathan Daniels". We'll also hear from Jack Pratt, who was Legal Counsel for the Commission on Religion and Race for The National Council of Churches in the early 1960's.

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Jonathan Myrick Daniels

I am from Keene,NH. Doctor Daniels.Saved my life.August,1942. I was 15. I had a rupture appendix. Dr Daniels rushed me to the hospital,for an emergency operation.I was not expected to live. Dr. Daniels kept watch over me for 24 hours. I recovered. I am eighty years old and live in Conyers,Ga. Retired from the airforce in 1965.A boy scout volunteer for 50 years.The last time I saw Dr Daniels was in 1948. I did not know about Jonathan,until the late 90s.

Jonathan Myrick Daniels.

You may be referring to Jonathan's father, Philip Brock Daniels, who was a doctor in Keene. Jonathan Myrick Daniels was born in 1939. Here's the entry in Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Myrick_Daniels

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