Daniels Courtyard Dedication

Civil Rights Hero Honored Daniels ’61 Courtyard Dedication

VMI Alumni Review, Spring 2004

It was June 1961 when Jonathan Daniels ’61 last walked the post in his cadet uniform. However, with the dedication of the Jonathan Daniels Arch and Courtyard in March 2004, his words will echo always through barracks.

Above the archway connecting barracks with the courtyard is a quote from Daniels’ valedictory address given during graduation for the Class of 1961. It reads, “I wish you the decency and nobility of which you are capable.”

Daniels is a “prime example of a citizen solider,” said Col. Keith Gibson ’77, director of the VMI Museum System. Though he did not serve in the military, he served in “an army with a religious ministry,” explained Gibson.

A student at the Episcopal Theological Seminary in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Daniels followed his convictions and calling to Alabama in hopes of making a difference in the nation’s civil rights struggle. On a sultry August day in 1965, Daniels died during a bloody confrontation when he pushed a black teenage girl named Ruby Sales out of the way of a shotgun blast.

That sacrifice touched many lives and will be permanently remembered at VMI through the courtyard and arch.

The ceremony dedicating the Daniels Courtyard and Arch was held March 25, 2004, in Jackson Memorial Hall. The Rev. William Rankin, who was a seminarian with Daniels and later became dean of the Episcopal Theological School, and Donzaleigh Abernathy, whose father played a very active role in the civil rights movement, were featured. Rankin gave the invocation, and Abernathy spoke on the topic of civility.

The dedication of the courtyard followed the presentation. At this ceremony, Rankin commented on the life of Daniels, and a 3 by 4 foot bronze plaque was unveiled. Brigadier Gen. Lee D. Badgett ’61, professor of economics and a brother rat of Daniels, assisted in the unveiling. The dedication was followed by a viewing of a video production made by Kelci Williams, a high school senior from Uniontown, Kansas. The video, titled, “I Just Shot Two Preachers,” described events leading up to and surrounding Daniels’ sacrifice. It won the National History Day Competition for the senior individual documentary.

Other guests invited to the unveiling included Ruby Sales; Emily Daniels Roby, Daniels’ sister; Richard Morrisoe, who was also shot in the incident in which Daniels was killed; and several other friends and colleagues of Daniels. Morrisoe spoke to the Corps at the 2003 Daniels ceremony.

The story of Daniels has had international impact. He is listed as a modern day martyr in the Chapel of Martyrs in England’s Canterbury Cathedral. He is one of 15 martyrs to be recognized in this chapel, and one of only two Americans – the other being Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Daniels has had a tremendous impact on VMI, as well. The Daniels Award was first given by the Promaji Club in 1992. Six years later, the club graciously gave the VMI Board of Visitors exclusive use of the name when the board established the Jonathan Myrick Daniels ’61 Humanitarian Award.

The award, which recognizes individuals who have made significant personal sacrifices to protect or improve the lives of others, was given for the first time in 2001 to former President Jimmy Carter. (Article first published by VMI Communications & Marketing.)