Milton Moran Weston II

Milton Moran Weston II[1] (September 10, 1910 – May 18, 2002) was an African-American Episcopal clergyman, social activist, and businessman who was the rector of St. Philip's Episcopal Church in Manhattan and co-founder of the Carver Federal Savings Bank.

Biography

Weston was born in Tarboro, North Carolina, the son and grandson of Episcopal priests. He entered St. Augustine's Junior College in Raleigh, North Carolina and graduated as valedictorian. In 1928, he enrolled at Columbia College, where he was one of five black undergraduates at the time and graduated in 1930.[1][2] He was then trained as a clergyman and received his bachelor and master of divinity degrees from Union Theological Seminary in 1934.[3]

Before his 1950 ordination into the priesthood, he was active in labor and social causes and joined the National Negro Labor Council as field secretary.[4][5] He organized civil rights rallies in New York City and worked to provide jobs and housing for the local community.[3][6] In 1948, he joined with 14 others to found the Carver Federal Savings Bank, an institution that helps finance affordable housing in the Harlem neighborhood and is regarded today as the largest independently owned black financial institution.[2][7]

In 1950, Weston was ordained a deacon and priest. He joined St. Philip's Episcopal Church as rector in 1957, where he served as rector until 1982. As rector, he directed construction of five nonprofit housing developments in Harlem that provided affordable housing for the low-income and the elderly.[8]

In 1969, he was elected as the first African American trustee of Columbia University and his election was followed by the appointment of another African American member, Franklin A. Thomas.[2][9][10]

His scholarly pursuits include writing as a columnist for the New York Amsterdam News and serving as a tenured professor at the State University of New York at Albany from 1968 to 1977.[11]

He died on May 18, 2002 at his home in Heathrow, Florida. He was 91.[2]

References
  1. "Milton Moran Weston II". c250.columbia.edu. Retrieved 2020-05-20.
  2. Martin, Douglas (2002-05-22). "M. Moran Weston, 91, Priest and Banker of Harlem, Dies". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-05-20.
  3. "The Reverend M. Moran Weston, Jr., 1910-2002 · Leadership Gallery · The Church Awakens: African Americans and the Struggle for Justice". episcopalarchives.org. Retrieved 2020-05-20.
  4. Miller, Eben (2012-02-16). Born along the Color Line: The 1933 Amenia Conference and the Rise of a National Civil Rights Movement. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acprof:osobl/9780195174557.003.0006. ISBN 978-0-19-517455-7.
  5. "archives.nypl.org -- National Negro Congress records". archives.nypl.org. Retrieved 2020-05-20.
  6. "Secretary Cuomo's Remarks at the Columbia University Moran Weston Lecture Series". U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. September 12, 2000. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
  7. "Saving Carver Federal, New York's last black bank". Crain's New York Business. 2015-03-22. Retrieved 2020-05-20.
  8. Allon, Janet (1996-03-03). "HARLEM;A Legend Reviews His Housing Legacies". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-05-20.
  9. "Class notes - winter 1999". Columbia College Today. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
  10. McCaughey, Robert (2003). Stand, Columbia: A History of Columbia University. Columbia University Press. pp. 469–470. ISBN 0231503555.
  11. "Minister, Educator and Activist, M. Moran Weston". African American Registry. Retrieved 2020-05-20.
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