While September 11 will forever conjure up images of the terrorist attacks of 2001, that date has another association for the congregation of St. Barnabas’ Church in Newark. For on September 11, 1961, an interracial group of 27 Episcopal priests boarded a bus in New Orleans, and headed north to General Convention held in Detroit. En route this group, known as the “Prayer Pilgrimage,” made history by ending segregation in all bus and train terminals throughout the South.
Fifty years ago, when the Prayer Pilgrimage made its way to Detroit, the priests were prepared to face arrest, physical abuse, and possibly death. Their journey began without incident until they arrived in Jackson, MS, where an integrated group of 15 priests entered the segregated bus terminal. Local police ordered them to “move on,” but the priests, all in clerical collars, stood their ground and prayed for the people of Mississippi. When the prayer was over they were immediately arrested. While in custody one of the priests, the Rev. Robert Pierson, celebrated High Mass. He became the spokesperson for the group, and was the lead petitioner in the appearance of their conviction on “breach of peace” charges. The group was released on September 19, and the Interstate Commerce Commission issued new regulations, mandating an end to segregation in all bus and train stations and ordered the removal of “whites only” signs from interstate bus terminals by November 1.
What is significant to the congregation at St. Barnabas’, Newark is that Pierson went on to become priest-in-charge at St. Barnabas’ throughout most of the turbulent 1960’s. He and his wife, Ann Clark Rockefeller, a daughter of Nelson Rockefeller, shared an interest in social causes, which included racial equality, women’s rights, and the welfare of migrant workers. They supported a black dance group in Brooklyn, subsidized James Baldwin’s “Blues for Mister Charlie’’ at the American National Theater and Academy (ANTA) Theater, and flew to Moscow in 1965 in a citizens exchange project to thaw the Cold War.
While in Newark, Pierson continued his social protests, and criticized then-Governor Hughes for calling the National Guard during the 1967 Newark riots. That civil disturbance, marked by six days of rioting, looting and destruction, left 26 dead and hundreds injured. According to Pierson, the rioting might have been avoided if the city’s anti-poverty program had been given sufficient funds. Pierson died in 1997.
