- John T. Walker
John Thomas Walker (1925-1989) was
Bishop of Washington from 1977 to 1989 in theEpiscopal Diocese of Washington . From 1978 to 1989, he also served as Dean ofWashington National Cathedral . Previously, he served as Bishop Coadjutor from 1976 to 1977 and Bishop Suffragan from 1971 to 1976. He was the firstAfrican-American Bishop of Washington. [ [http://www.africare.org/about/annualreport/2003/walker.html The Africare Bishop John T. Walker Memorial Dinner] ]Bishop Walker was born in
Barnsville, Georgia and brought up inDetroit . He was the first African American to be admitted as a student to theVirginia Theological Seminary in 1951. [ [http://www.holycomforterdc.org/walkercenter.htm Walker Center] ] Bishop Walker first came to Washington as the Canon ofWashington National Cathedral .He earned a world reputation for social activism and was a good friend of Archbishop
Desmond Tutu . [ [http://www.edow.org/diocese/bishops/pastbishops.html Past bishops of Washington] ] He was once arrested at a protest rally againstapartheid at the South African Embassy. [ [http://biography.jrank.org/pages/2541/Walker-John-T.html John T. Walker Biography] ] From 1975 until his death in 1989, Bishop Walker served as President of the Board of Directors ofAfricare . The organization now presents theBishop John T. Walker Distinguished Humanitarian Service Award each year in his honor.To honor the first African-American Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington and all of his contributions, The Bishop John T. Walker School is scheduled to open in September 2008. It will be established as a pre-kindergarten through eighth grade school for boys in
Southeast, Washington, D.C. . It has been founded by the Episcopal Diocese of Washington and each year a grade will be added until the school has reached its first graduating 8th grade class in 2017-2018.References
External links
* [http://biography.jrank.org/pages/2541/Walker-John-T.html Biography of John T.Walker]
* [http://www.bishopwalkerschool.org/ The Bishop John T. Walker School for Boys]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.