Father John Edwin Culmer (May 22, 1891 – June 18, 1963) was a minister and leader during the

civil rights movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional Racial segregation in the United States, racial segregation, Racial discrimination ...

, most notable for his work in

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

Early life

Culmer was born on May 22, 1891. He attended

Oskaloosa College Oskaloosa College was a liberal arts college based out of Oskaloosa, Iowa. Work was begun on establishing the college in 1855, under the influence of Aaron Chatterson and was affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). The college ...

, where he received a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

in music. He received a bachelor of divinity degree from Bishop Payne Divinity School. He has also received honorary doctorates from Bethune-Cookman College and the

Virginia Theological Seminary Virginia Theological Seminary (VTS), formally called the Protestant Episcopal Theological Seminary in Virginia, located at 3737 Seminary Road in Alexandria, Virginia is the largest and second oldest accredited Episcopal seminary in the Unit ...

Career

After leading a ministry in

Tampa Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough County ...

, in 1929, Culmer was transferred to the

Saint Agnes Agnes of Rome () is a virgin martyr, venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church, Oriental Orthodox Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church, as well as the Anglican Communion and Lutheran Churches. St. Agnes is one of several virgin martyrs com ...

Church in Miami. At the church, Father Culmer helped the poorly established church become one of the most acclaimed congregations in the

American South The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...

. During his tenure as minister, he served on the Dade County Senior Citizens Board, and headed Miami's Peaceful Integration committee. Culmer also was chairman of the Fact-Finding Committee of the Greater Miami Negro Civic League, where he brought national attention to the deplorable housing and sanitation conditions of

African Americans African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

in Miami; this led to the building of the Liberty Square housing project, which opened in 1937.

Death and legacy

Culmer died on June 18, 1963. The Culmer

Metrorail METRORail is the light rail system in Houston, Texas (United States). In , the system had a ridership of , or about per weekday as of . METRORail ranks as the second most-traveled light rail system in the Southern United States and the 12th ...

station is named in his honor.

References

Biography of John Culmer from The Archives of the Episcopal Church
2008. The Archives of the Episcopal Church DFMS/PECUSA. Retrieved December 3, 2015 {{DEFAULTSORT:Culmer, John 1891 births 1963 deaths American Christian clergy Bahamian emigrants to the United States History of Miami Oskaloosa College alumni People from Eleuthera 20th-century American clergy