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Biography of Aaron HenryName: Aaron HenryBirth Date: July 2, 1922 Death Date: 1997 Place of Birth: Dublin, Mississippi, United States Nationality: American Gender: Male Occupations: civil rights activist Aaron Henry Aaron Henry (1922-97), a champion of civil rights, leader the Mississippi chapter of the NAACP and a member of the Mississippi House of Representatives, was one of the most revered civil rights leaders in Mississippi.Described by one biographer as "the oldest, best known, and most respected civil rights activist in Mississippi," Aaron Henry served as president of the Mississippi chapter of the NAACP starting in 1960. Henry grew up near Clarksdale, Mississippi, and later earned a degree in political science at Xavier University in New Orleans. During World War II, he served as a staff sergeant with the U.S. Army in the Pacific. After the war, the African American veteran attended pharmacy school, and eventually returned to Clarksdale to open a drug store.As a leader of the NAACP, Henry participated in virtually every aspect of the struggle for equality in Mississippi, while serving as a voice of moderation and …showed first 150 words…
…showed last 150 words…reversed the conviction. When Henry claimed he had been the victim of a racial vendetta by the local prosecutor and police chief, the white officials sued him and won an ,000 award. The jury verdict, however, was also reversed on appeal. Henry fended off the legal threats, but white supremacists bombed his home and his drugstore, and his wife was fired from her job as a public school teacher. Through three tumultuous decades, the steady, modest Henry endured. "I think," he said, "that every time a man stands for an ideal or speaks out against injustice, he sends out a tiny ripple of hope." In 1982, Henry was elected to the Mississippi House of Representatives.One of the founding members of Rural America, Henry served on its board from 1967-1989. He served as Rural America's Board Chairman from 1983-1989. In the spring of 1997 Henry suffered heart failure and died in Clarksdale, Mississippi. Associated Organizations |