Everett Parker

Geneva Jones

(m. 1939; died 2004)

ChildrenRuth Weiss, Eunice Kolczun (daughters)
Rev. Truman E. Parker (son)

Everett Carlton Parker (January 17, 1913 – September 17, 2015) was an American media activist and ordained minister of the United Church of Christ.^[1]^[2]^[3]

Born in Chicago, Illinois, Parker attended the University of Chicago. Upon graduation in 1935, he spent a year with the Works Progress Administration, then another with the radio station WJBW. After returning to his hometown for a job as an advertiser, Parker enrolled at the Chicago Theological Seminary, earning a Ph.D in 1943. He reentered the media world with a stint at NBC in New York, then taught at Yale Divinity School from 1945 to 1957. He was the Director of the Office of Communication of the United Church of Christ from 1954 to 1983.^[4]

He filed a successful petition to deny licensing renewal of television station WLBT in Jackson, Mississippi in the 1960s. The station had a poor record with regards to the civil rights of African Americans during the Civil Rights Movement.^[5]

Dozens of times both the FCC and US Congress heard testimony by Parker concerning the maintenance of equal-time provisions and fairness in the broadcasting industry.^[6]

I want them to remember that I was a guy who fought like the devil for the rights of minorities.
— Everett C. Parker, Broadband & Social Justice interview, 2012^[4]

Parker was also involved in film and television. He hosted the 30-minute religious television program Stained Glass Windows. It ran from 1948-49 on the ABC Television network. He produced Six American Families in 1977, a PBS television series.

Each year, "Everett C Parker Lecture" takes place in Washington. The event is held to promote telecommunications equity and is sponsored by the Benton Foundation.^[6]

Personal life

He was married to Geneva Jones from 1939 to the time of her death in 2004. They had three children, Ruth Weiss, Eunice Kolczun, and Truman E. Parker.^[4] Everett Parker died at the age of 102 in a White Plains, New York hospital.^[6]

References

^ Larkman, Connie (January 15, 2013). "Celebrating the legacy of Everett Parker on his 100th birthday". United Church of Christ. Retrieved 2015-09-19.
^ "Everett Parker, 1913-2015". PBS - Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly - Headlines. September 18, 2015. Retrieved 2015-09-19.
^ Nichols, John (17 January 2013). "John Nichols: Father of media reform, Everett C. Parker, turns 100". The Capital Times. Retrieved 2015-09-19.
^ ^a ^b ^c McFadden, Robert D. (September 18, 2015). "Everett C. Parker, Who Won Landmark Fight Over Media Race Bias, Dies at 102". New York Times. Archived from the original on September 21, 2015. Retrieved September 19, 2015. Alt URL
^ "The FCC & Censorship: Legendary Media Activist Everett Parker on the Revocation of WLBT's TV License in the 1960s for Shutting Out Voices of the Civil Rights Movement". Democracy Now!. March 6, 2008. Retrieved 2015-09-19.
^ ^a ^b ^c Schudel, Matt (September 19, 2015). "Everett C. Parker, champion of fair broadcasting practices, dies at 102". Washington Post. Archived from the original on October 2, 2015. Retrieved September 22, 2015.

External links

"Everett C. Parker: oral history United Church of Christ". American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
Statement by Mignon Clyburn of the FCC on the death of Parker
Statement by Tom Wheeler of the FCC on the death of Parker

Civil rights movement (1954–1968)

Events
(timeline)

Prior to 1954	Journey of Reconciliation Executive Order 9981 Murders of Harry and Harriette Moore Sweatt v. Painter (1950) McLaurin v. Oklahoma State Regents (1950) Baton Rouge bus boycott
1954–1959	Brown v. Board of Education Bolling v. Sharpe Briggs v. Elliott Davis v. Prince Edward County Gebhart v. Belton Sarah Keys v. Carolina Coach Company Emmett Till Montgomery bus boycott Browder v. Gayle Tallahassee bus boycott Mansfield school desegregation 1957 Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom "Give Us the Ballot" Royal Ice Cream sit-in Little Rock Nine Cooper v. Aaron Civil Rights Act of 1957 Ministers' Manifesto Katz Drug Store sit-in Kissing Case Biloxi wade-ins
1960–1963	New Year's Day March Sit-in movement Greensboro sit-ins Nashville sit-ins Atlanta sit-ins Savannah Protest Movement Greenville Eight Civil Rights Act of 1960 Ax Handle Saturday Gomillion v. Lightfoot Boynton v. Virginia University of Georgia desegregation riot Rock Hill sit-ins Robert F. Kennedy's Law Day Address Freedom Rides Anniston bombing Birmingham attack Garner v. Louisiana Albany Movement Cambridge movement University of Chicago sit-ins "Second Emancipation Proclamation" Meredith enrollment, Ole Miss riot Atlanta's Berlin Wall "Segregation now, segregation forever" Stand in the Schoolhouse Door 1963 Birmingham campaign Letter from Birmingham Jail Children's Crusade Birmingham riot 16th Street Baptist Church bombing John F. Kennedy's speech to the nation on Civil Rights Detroit Walk to Freedom March on Washington "I Have a Dream" Big Six St. Augustine movement
1964–1968	Twenty-fourth Amendment Chester school protests Bloody Tuesday 1964 Monson Motor Lodge protests Freedom Summer workers' murders Civil Rights Act of 1964 Heart of Atlanta Motel, Inc. v. United States Katzenbach v. McClung 1964–1965 Scripto strike 1965 Selma to Montgomery marches "How Long, Not Long" Voting Rights Act of 1965 Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections March Against Fear White House Conference on Civil Rights Chicago Freedom Movement/Chicago open housing movement Loving v. Virginia Memphis sanitation strike King assassination funeral riots Civil Rights Act of 1968 Poor People's Campaign Green v. County School Board of New Kent County Jones v. Alfred H. Mayer Co.