Edler Garnet Hawkins

Edler Garnet Hawkins (1908–1977) was a Presbyterian minister from New York City. He is known for his ecumenical work and for being the first African American to serve as Moderator of the General Assembly for the United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America.

History

Early life and ministry Edler Garnet Hawkins was born in the Bronx in 1908 to parents who had moved to New York City from North Carolina and Virginia. He had four siblings, of whom two died in infancy. Following this, Hawkins enrolled as an undergraduate at Bloomfield College in New Jersey and later enrolled in the Union Seminary in New York City in order to become a minister. was in a neighborhood experiencing a racial transformation, Following his term as moderator, Hawkins attended the 1968 Assembly of the World Council of Churches in Uppsala, Sweden as the UPCUSA's representative. He would later be elected to that organization's Central Committee in 1974, where he played a major role in defending the council's Programme to Combat Racism.

In 1971, Hawkins accepted a position as professor at Princeton Seminary for practical theology and black studies. Hawkins died several years later in 1977.