Phillips, Channing E.(1928–1987) - Minister, civil rights activist, Chronology
Minister, civil rights activist
Channing Emery Phillips was a noted clergyman and civil rights activist. Intellectually gifted and attuned to the needs of the urban poor, he was deeply committed to helping black and low-income families improve their circumstances. He attained national recognition at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in 1968, when he became the first black man to be nominated for president of the United States.
Descended from Native American, African American, and Caucasian people, Phillips was from a prominent upper-class black family whose family tree and achievements were profiled in the Negro History Bulletin . His father, Reverend Porter W. Phillips Sr., held an honorary doctorate of divinity degree and was the pastor of the Carrone Baptist Church in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, for twenty-five years. His mother, Dorothy Fletcher Phillips, was a schoolteacher, church organist, and choir director. The couple had five sons: Porter Jr., Channing, Treadwell, Wendell, and Fletcher, as well as one daughter, Marie.
Phillips was born in Brooklyn, New York on March 23, 1928. Like their father, Channing and his brothers earned their undergraduate degrees at the historically black Virginia Union University in Richmond, Virginia. All of the Phillips brothers were members of Alpha Kappa Alpha fraternity, and all but one was a minister or had been employed by a church.
Chronology
1928
Born in Brooklyn, New York on March 23
1945–47
Serves in the United States Air Force; leaves with rank of sergeant
1950
Graduates from Virginia Union with A.B. degree in sociology
1953
Receives B.D. from Colgate Divinity School, Rochester, New York
1954–55
Studies as doctoral fellow in New Testament Studies at Drew University
1956
Marries Jane Celeste Nabors
1959
Serves as pastor, Lemuel Hayes Congregational Church
1961
Serves as pastor, Lincoln Memorial Congregational Temple United Church of Christ
1967
Serves as executive director, Housing Development Corporation
1968
First African American nominated for president by a major political party, Democratic National Convention in Chicago
1968–72
Serves as Democratic committee member
1971
Loses election to House of Representatives from Washington, D.C.
1974
Resigns from Housing Development Corporation
1982
Serves as minister of planning and coordination, Riverside Church, New York
1987
Dies in New York City on November 13
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