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Jonathan Myrick Daniels (1939-1965), a native of Keene, New Hampshire, was valedictorian of the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) Class of 1961. He was awarded the prestigious Danforth Fellowship for post-graduate study and enrolled at Harvard University, Massachusetts, to continue his study of English literature. Daniels soon realized that he was called to the ministry. While a seminarian at the Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, he responded to the pleas of Dr. Martin Luther King for clergy to become more actively involved in the civil rights movement and traveled to Alabama to assist with voter registration efforts in the South.
In August 1965, Daniels and 22 others were arrested for participating in a voter rights demonstration in Fort Deposit, Alabama, and transferred to the county jail in nearby Hayneville. Shortly after being released on August 20, Richard Morrisroe, a Catholic priest, and Daniels, accompanied two African American teenagers, Joyce Bailey and Ruby Sales, to a Hayneville store to buy a soda. They were met on the steps by Tom Coleman, a construction worker and part-time deputy sheriff, who was carrying a shotgun. Coleman aimed his gun at sixteen-year-old Ruby Sales, and Daniels pushed her to the ground to protect her, saving her life. The shotgun blast killed Daniels instantly and Morrisroe was seriously wounded. When Martin Luther King, Jr. heard of the tragedy, he said "one of the most heroic Christian deeds of which I have heard in my entire ministry was performed by Jonathan Daniels."
In the years since his death, Daniels' selfless act has been recognized in many ways, including:
Use the exhibit below to view photos of Daniels. To learn more about him, see the “Life and Legacy of Jonathan Daniels ‘61” video and booklet by the VMI Alumni Agency.
Left to right: Jonathan M. Daniels, winner of a Danforth Fellowship; Paul S. Thompson, IV and Malcolm Barry E. Smith, both winners of Woodrow Wilson Fellowships; Lee Douglas Badgett, winner of a Rhodes Scholarship.
Daniels and his colleague Judith Upham stayed with the West family in Selma, Alabama in the Spring and Summer of 1965.
Daniels and his colleague Judith Upham stayed with the West family in Selma, Alabama in the Spring and Summer of 1965.
Left to right: Daniels, Judith Upham, and Ronald Fuller.
Each August VMI alumni are invited to remember Daniels in Alabama by taking part in a pilgrimage. The group starts at Lowndes County Courthouse and travels to the now-defunct jail where Daniels and his companions were held. The group then visits what used to be Varner’s Cash Store, the site of Daniels’ death. At each stop, attendees hear a reading of the events that lead to Daniels’ death.
Pilgrims leave the store and return to the courthouse where VMI alumni speak about Daniels and his heroic actions.
In 1997, the VMI Board of Visitors voted to establish the Jonathan M. Daniels '61 Humanitarian Award. This award emphasizes the virtue of humanitarian public service and recognizes individuals who have made significant personal sacrifices to protect or improve the lives of others. The award is a nine-inch bronze replica of VMI's "Virginia Mourning Her Dead." The replica was created by sculptor Stan Efron with the original by Moses J. Ezekiel, VMI Class of 1866.
Recipients of this award include:
The Jonathan Daniels Barracks Arch and Courtyard was dedicated in 2004 and serves as a quiet place of reflection on post. A quote from Daniels’ valedictory address is above the archway that connects barracks with the courtyard. The quote reads, “I wish you the decency and nobility of which you are capable.”
