Ralph Lord Roy
# Ralph Lord Roy

Ralph Lord Roy (September 30, 1928 – 2020) was a Methodist pastor and author, as well as a Freedom Rider and activist in the Civil rights movement.

## Background

Ralph Lord Roy was born on September 30, 1928, in St. Albans, Vermont. He was the son of Howard Allen and Olive Lydia (Corliss) Roy. He graduated from Swarthmore College in 1950, then received his Master of Arts from Union Theological Seminary in 1952.

After his ordination, he served several churches in New York City and Connecticut.

Roy's first book, Apostles of Discord, began as his doctoral thesis. It discussed some of the racist elements hiding within American Protestantism and was the first published history of the emerging Christian Identity $movement.^{:22}$

## Civil rights movement

Roy was part of the Interfaith Freedom Ride from Washington, D.C. to Tallahassee, Florida June 13–16, 1961, an act that resulted in jail time.

After meeting with Martin Luther King Jr. in the summer of 1962, Roy and Israel Dresner organized a "prayer pilgrimage" on August 28, 1962, in Albany, Georgia. The pilgrimage resulted in the largest jailing of clergy in American history.

## Writer and author

Ralph Lord Roy was a writer and an author.

For 20 years, he was a columnist covering social, political, and religious topics for the Record Journal in Meriden, Connecticut.

### Books

* Apostles of Discord (1953)
* Communism and the Churches (1960)
