Thomas Kilgore Jr.

This article is about clergyman and human rights activist. For the founder of Cross Plains, Tennessee, see Thomas Kilgore.

The Reverend Thomas Kilgore Jr.
Kilgore in 1979
Personal life
Born	Thomas Kilgore Jr. (1913-02-20)February 20, 1913 Woodruff, South Carolina, U.S.
Died	February 4, 1998(1998-02-04) (aged 84) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Spouse	Jeannetta Miriam Scott ​ ​ (m. 1936)​
Education	Morehouse College
Religious life
Religion	Christianity Protestantism
Denomination	Baptist
Profession	Clergyman

Thomas Kilgore Jr. was a prominent clergyman, community leader, and human rights activist. He helped organize the March on Washington.

Biography

Kilgore was born in Woodruff, South Carolina. While a freshman at Morehouse College in Atlanta, he attended Ebeneezer Baptist Church, which was headed by the Reverend A. D. Williams, the maternal grandfather of Martin Luther King Jr. It was through this association that he got to know the King family. He first met Martin Luther King when the latter was only 2+1⁄2 years old.

When the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) was founded in the late 1950s, Kilgore managed their New York office. In 1963, he helped organize the March on Washington. Also in 1963, Kilgore became pastor of Second Baptist Church, the oldest black Baptist church in Los Angeles. There he established the first chapter of SCLC west of the Rockies. He led Second Baptist Church until his retirement in 1985.

Kilgore died in Los Angeles on February 4, 1998. He was 84 years old.