Jonathan Daniels

Jonathan Myrick Daniels (March 20, 1939 – August 20, 1965) was an Episcopal seminarian and civil rights activist. In 1965, he was killed by Tom Coleman, a highway worker and part-time deputy sheriff, in Hayneville, Alabama, while in the act of shielding 17-year-old Ruby Sales from a racist attack. He saved the life of the young Black civil rights activist. They were both working in the nonviolent civil rights movement in Lowndes County to integrate public places and register Black voters after passage of the Voting Rights Act that summer. Daniels' death generated further support for the civil rights movement.

This article is about the Episcopal seminarian. For the White House Press Secretary, see Jonathan W. Daniels.

Jonathan Daniels
Daniels (far right), c. 1960s
Seminarian and civil rights activist
BornJonathan Myrick Daniels
March 20, 1939
Keene, New Hampshire, U.S.
DiedAugust 20, 1965(1965-08-20) (aged 26)
Hayneville, Alabama, U.S.
Venerated inAnglican Communion
FeastAugust 14

In 1991, Daniels was designated as a martyr in the Episcopal church, and is recognized annually in its calendar.

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