The Episcopal Society for Cultural and Racial Unity (ESCRU)

Membership

ESCRU’s membership grew from approximately 100 in 1959 to over 1,000 in 1961. At its peak in 1966, ESCRU counted 5,000 members in 29 chapters, of whom two-thirds were lay persons. Its strongest support was in northern urban areas, including Chicago, New York, and Boston, but chapters were also located in Atlanta, Texas, and Maryland. The Society’s national office, which oversaw most of the outreach of the Society, was in Atlanta under the guidance of the Rev. John Morris, who served as Executive Director from 1960 to 1967. [Sources]

Silent film of ESCRU Gathering, 1964.

Letter By John Morris, 1963

Letter written by ESCRU Director John Morris thanking Presiding Bishop Arthur Lichtenberger for his statement (also included) which called for Episcopalians to support the nation-wide civil rights protests, May 1963.

Claiborne Letter To Morris

Letter written to ESCRU Director John Morris from the Rt. Rev. Randolph R. Claiborne, Jr., Bishop of Atlanta, expressing his lack of support for ESCRU, July 1959.

  • ESCRU Delegates Standing Outside A Cathedral

    ESCRU delegates gathered in front of a Cathedral in Chicago, Illinois, in 1962. John Morris is front row center.

  • ESCRU Protest At Chicago City Hall

    An ESCRU Organized Demonstration at City Hall in Chicago, Illinois, c. 1965.

  • ESCRU Meeting At General Convention, 1964

    ESCRU meeting at the 1964 General Convention.

  • ESCRU Marching At Chicago City Hall

    An ESCRU Organized Demonstration at City Hall in Chicago, Illinois, c. 1965.

  • Portrait Of John Morris, Executive Director

    The Reverend John Morris, Executive Director of ESCRU from 1960-1967.

  • Peabody and Myers At ESCRU Pray-In, 1966

    Malcolm E. Peabody, Jr., ESCRU president, left, at a pray-in at Church Center reading a declaration assailing the Church's “heretical and blasphemous” race practices, November 1966.

  • The Living Church, Cover, 1966

    Cover from December 1966 edition of “The Living Church” documenting the ESCRU pray-in held at the Episcopal Church Center November 11-12, 1966.

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