Clennon Washington King, Jr.

Clennon Washington King Jr. (July 18, 1920 – February 12, 2000) was the first African-American man to run for the office of President of the United States, and whose attempts at civil rights actions and running for office as a perennial candidate caused him to be nicknamed "The Black Don Quixote."

He was the eldest son of seven. His father, Clennon Washington King Sr., was a civil rights activist, Tuskeegee Institute student and chauffeur of Booker T. Washington. His mother was Margaret Allegra Slater. His brother, lawyer C. B. King, posthumously had a United States Courthouse in Albany, Georgia named after him, his brother Slater King was a successful real estate broker, and his youngest brother Dr. Preston King received a pardon from President Bill Clinton, both actions related to their civil rights activism.

In 1957, he served as a history professor at Alcorn State University, but controversial letters to the editor and articles by him on the subject of racial integration led to students first boycotting the classes then threatening to boycott the school. School President J. R. Otis was fired as a consequence.

In 1958, King tried to have one of his children integrate an all-white elementary school in Mississippi, which would have been a first, but his wife and children fled. That year he also applied to the all-white University of Mississippi and was committed to an asylum for trying to attend it; his brother C.B. King was able to help free him. Additionally, Clennon King sought the support of Martin Luther King Jr.; they met and MLK later wrote Governor James P. Coleman on behalf of Clennon King. Just two years later, James Meredith became the first black student at that university.

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