Marshall ’65 Donates Daniels ’61 Cape to VMI

Marshall ’65 Donates Daniels ’61 Cape to VMI Museum

VMI Alumni Review, 2013-3

Gen. J.H. Binford Peay III ’62, superintendent, right, accepted Jonathan Daniels’ ’61 cape from John Mac Marshall ’65. VMI photo by John Robertson IV.

A first class cape owned by Jonathan M. Daniels ’61 was donated to the VMI Museum by John M. Marshall ’65 in a ceremony held Feb. 19, 2013. The cape will be on display in the VMI Museum, providing an opportunity to share the story of Daniels’ time at VMI and his role in the civil rights movement.

“VMI provided Daniels a forum in which he really examined his own character and his purpose in life,” said Col. Keith Gibson ’77, executive director of the VMI Museum System. “VMI was very much a challenge for Daniels, and he persevered in his academics and was voted valedictorian by his class.”

In 1965, while attending seminary, Daniels took part in the civil rights movement, spending the spring and summer months serving African-American communities in Alabama. After spending six days in jail for picketing whites-only stores, Daniels was shot and killed Aug. 20 while shielding an African-American girl [Ruby Sales] from a shotgun blast.

“Daniels saw what was right. He did it, and he paid for it with his life,” said Marshall. “When you stop and think about who this cape belonged to and the slice of history [of which it is] a part, the responsibility is enormous, and you have to be sure that what you’re doing with it is the right thing.”

Bringing the cape back to the Institute was a natural choice, and its presence will aid in relating Daniels’ story to future generations of cadets.

“We’re working on an exhibit on the contributions that alumni have made in the military and civilian world, and of course, Jonathan Daniels is a significant part of that story,” said Gibson. “The display will remind cadets of today that these people, who went on to do great things, started out just where they are.”

While VMI owns a few of the capes, which remain in use as a cold-weather uniform item for officer of the guard and officer of the day, the capes were once widely used by first class cadets.

“Its heyday was in the 1920s; there’s no doubt about it. Virtually every first classman would have had one,” said Gibson. “After World War II, the cape became less and less common in the Corps. It was still an authorized uniform item, but you had to get one that was handed down from previous generations.”

By the time Marshall matriculated, the capes had become rare but were still a prized possession among the first class cadets who were able to obtain them – used.

“It was a very fashionable uniform item for first classmen,” said Gibson. “They could wear it in lieu of their overcoats for social events. It was a prized possession of first classmen; it was a symbol of their achievement.”

Cognizant of the rarity of the capes, Marshall and a classmate, Lou Siegel ’65, split the cost of a cape shortly after matriculating. By the end of his fourth class year, Marshall had bought his Brother Rat’s share in the cape and was looking forward to the day when he could wear it.

“I was a Rat when I bought it, so I had it hanging up for three years, not wearing it until I had earned that right,” said Marshall. “It was sort of betting on the future, being an optimist.”

Jonathan Daniels happened to be the former owner of that cape, and while Daniels and Marshall never met, Marshall remained aware of the connection and carefully maintained the artifact.

“When the church declared Jonathan Daniels to be a martyr to the faith, I began to think that this wasn’t really mine. [I was] simply the custodian,” said Marshall. He drove from Texas to bring the cape to the VMI Museum, ensuring that it would arrive safely.

“It’s appropriate that the cape be brought back here to be put in the custody of VMI,” Marshall said. “As I see it [from an historical perspective], VMI has stood for inculcating integrity, honor and fidelity. There are few examples among VMI alumni who exemplify that more completely than Jonathan Daniels.”

Jonathan Daniels in Alabama • 1965 •