A Quaker Behind the Dream: Charlie Walker and the Civil Rights Movement

Many Americans think of the Religious Society of Friends—also known as Quakers—as passive individuals who avoid modern conflicts. As Brenda Walker Beadenkopf reveals in this narrative biography of her Quaker father, Charles Walker, Friends actually confronted social injustices with passion and fortitude.
For Charlie Walker, the biggest injustice of the 1950s and 1960s was discriminatory treatment of African Americans. Having helped introduce Dr. Martin Luther King in 1949 to nonviolence while King studied in a seminary near Philadelphia, Walker then actively supported King’s nonviolent crusade, becoming a key trainer and writer of training materials. He taught nonviolence as a valid method of protest and developed a working relationship with Dr. King and other prominent activists in the Civil Rights Movement.
Walker wrote the first training handbook for the Movement, served as an organizer for the March on Washington and was staff trainer for the 1964 Freedom Summer. This book provides a unique inside view of the training and support that took place behind the headlines.
A Quaker behind the Dream illuminates Walker’s amazing legacy and enormous influence on the Civil Rights Movement. It is a moving story that deserves to be widely known about humanity, conviction and faith.