Lawrence Lazelle Durgin (September 28, 1918 – August 11, 1981) was a Congregational minister and social activist. He was dedicated to racial equality, and was known for his work on "urban and social issues" in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Early life and education

He was born in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, where his father was secretary of the

Y.M.C.A. YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams in London, originally ...

in Tokyo. He graduated from

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...

in 1940, where he was president of the Dartmouth Christian Union, and from Oberlin School of Theology in 1944. He received an honorary Doctorate of Divinity from

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

in 1957 and another from

Oberlin College Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio. It is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational liberal arts college in the United S ...

Ministry

He served the following churches: * Orient Congregational Church, Orient Point, New York (1944-1947) * First Congregational Church,

Norwich, New York Norwich is a city and county seat of Chenango County, New York, United States. Surrounded on all sides by the Town of Norwich,. The name is taken from Norwich, England. Its population was 7,190 at the 2010 census. Lt. Warren Eaton Airport ...

(c.1948-1952) * Central Congregational Church,

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay ...

(1952-1961) *

Broadway United Church of Christ Broadway United Church of Christ is a Congregationalist Church located on West 71st Street, between Amsterdam Avenue and Columbus Avenue on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Finney's Broadway Tabernacle The original Broadway Tabernacle, n ...

New York, New York New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Uni ...

(1961-1980) He was instrumental in forming a relationship between historically black Tougaloo College in Mississippi and

in his capacity as a minister at Central Church in Providence. After serving on the board of Tougaloo College, he became the Vice President for Development and Public Relations in 1980. With his wife, he was involved in the founding of

Habitat for Humanity Habitat for Humanity International (HFHI), generally referred to as Habitat for Humanity or Habitat, is a US non-governmental, and nonprofit organization which was founded in 1976 by couple Millard and Linda Fuller. Habitat for Humanity is a Ch ...

. He was also involved in many inter-religious organizations, including the National Council of Churches. He was president of the Rhode Island Council of Churches. He was the moderator of the Metropolitan Association of the United Church of Christ, president of the Manhattan Division of the Council of Churches, and co-founder of the Jerusalem Conference for Christians and Israelis. He served on the boards of the

Andover Newton Theological School Andover Newton Theological School (ANTS) was a graduate school and seminary in Newton, Massachusetts. Affiliated with the American Baptist Churches USA and the United Church of Christ. It was the product of a merger between Andover Theological ...

and the Northfield Mount Hermon School.

Personal life

Durgin married Eunice King (1918–2005) in 1941 and had two children. He died in

Tougaloo, Mississippi Tougaloo (TUG-a-lu) is an area in Jackson and in Hinds County, Mississippi. Its ZIP Code, 39174, is assigned to the area encompassing Tougaloo College, which is in Madison County. The U.S. Postal Service operates the Tougaloo Post Office. Educa ...

in 1981, and a funeral was held in the Tougaloo College Chapel.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Durgin, Larry 1918 births 1981 deaths American Congregationalist ministers Dartmouth College alumni Oberlin College alumni Clergy from Newark, New Jersey 20th-century American clergy 20th-century Congregationalist ministers