The Prayer Pilgrimage
The Plan
Beginning in New Orleans, the priests arranged to terminate their pilgrimage at the 1961 General Convention in Detroit, Michigan. The group had a mission to visit Church and Church-related educational institutions to show concern that Church-sponsored institutions should have no restrictions based on race. Their actions were not supported by the bishops in the dioceses they wished to visit, but the group persevered. Twenty-eight priests left New Orleans aboard a chartered bus on September 12, 1961. Upon arrival at their first stop in Jackson, Mississippi, fifteen of the clergy entered the bus terminal in an integrated group. They were immediately arrested, jailed, and sentenced to four months in prison. [Sources]
A letter expressing support for the prayer pilgrimage, September 15, 1961.
A letter from bishops Carpenter and Murray of the Diocese of Alabama discouraging Morris and his supporters from making Birmingham a stop on their prayer pilgrimage, August 31, 1961.
Two statements from the Prayer Pilgrimage to the 60th General Convention of the Episcopal Church, September 1961.