Robert Hayling
| Robert Hayling | |
|---|---|
| Born | Robert Bagner Hayling November 20, 1929 Tallahassee, Florida, U.S. |
| Died | December 20, 2015 (aged 86) Fort Lauderdale, Florida |
| Residence | Lauderhill, Florida; Cocoa, Florida; Saint Augustine, Florida; Tallahassee, Florida; Nashville, Tennessee |
| Fields | Dentist, Civil rights |
| Alma mater | |
| Known for | St. Augustine Movement |
| Spouse | Athea Wake |
Robert Bagner Hayling (November 20, 1929 – December 20, 2015) was an American dentist, and civil rights activist.
Dr. Robert B. Hayling was born in Tallahassee, Florida to Charles C. Hayling, Sr., an academic who had a 33-year career at Florida A&M University, and Cleo Bagner Hayling. He and his three siblings all attended Florida A&M, in addition to receiving graduate education. In 1951, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Air Force, serving for four years, before moving to Nashville, Tennessee to study dentistry. He received a Doctor of Dental Surgery degree from Meharry Medical College School of Dentistry in 1960, where he first became involved in civil rights by participating in marches and lunch counter sit-ins.
Dr. Hayling began his dental practice in St. Augustine, becoming the first African-American dentist to be elected to the local, regional, and national components of the American Dental Association. He actively embraced the growing cause of civil rights, becoming the adult advisor to the Youth Council of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
He led the group in protests against plans to celebrate St. Augustine's 400th birthday as the nation's oldest European settlement on an all-white basis. When Vice President Lyndon Johnson came to the city in 1963 to dedicate the first of the restored buildings on St. George Street, it was to be followed by a banquet for whites only at the city's famous Ponce de Leon Hotel. In tense negotiations, a small number of blacks were invited, in return for a promise not to picket the event. However, an agreement to have city officials listen to the concerns of the black community was not honored, leaving Hayling skeptical of promises from Washington politicians.
Hayling encouraged members of the youth council to participate in lunch counter sit-ins, which led to a group of them, known as "The St. Augustine Four" spending six months in jail and reform school. Parents of the students were promised a reprieve, only if they signed documents stating that Hayling had "contributed to the delinquency of minors," and further, if they agreed that their children would not participate in further civil rights activities. They refused.
Hayling and three companions--James Jackson, Clyde Jenkins, and James Hauser--were kidnapped and taken to a Ku Klux Klan rally in September, 1963, where they were seriously beaten and narrowly escaped death. They were then charged with assaulting the Ku Klux Klan. As he gained a reputation for militance, Hayling was threatened with the revocation of the group's charter by NAACP Executive Secretary Roy Wilkins during a phone conversation. Hayling replied "I will mail you your charter," vowing to continue his activities without the support of the NAACP.
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