Joseph E. Boone

Joseph Everhart Boone (September 19, 1922 – July 15, 2006) was an American civil rights activist and organizer who marched together with Martin Luther King Jr.

Biography Joseph E. Boone was the son of John L. and Mattie Roberts Boone.

He attended the Huston–Tillotson University (1950) and earned a Bachelor of Divinity at the Gammon Theological Seminary in 1954.He was a member of the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity.

King named Boone as the chief negotiator of Operation Breadbasket, a program that encouraged businesses that sold to African-Americans, to employ and promote African Americans. Boone led a team of more than 200 ministers in more than 30 cities for Operation Breadbasket. He was also in charge of the negotiations with the Atlanta School Committee for the desegregation of the city's school system. where he developed the drug therapy program. Starting in 1974, he collaborated with F. W. Woolworth Company to improve the economic development of black communities.

Awards

1959: Civic Leader of the Year by the First Congregational Church 1967: Excelsior Knights Citizenship Award 1973: National Labor Relations Award 2002: United Church of Christ Meritorious Award 2003: Civil Rights Legend Award 2006: International Civil Rights Walk of Fame Award

Personal life Boone married Alethea Williams. They had two daughters: Jolaunda and Andrea.

Posthumous honors In March 2008 Boone's memory was honored when Simpson Road/Street in Northwest Atlanta was renamed Joseph E. Boone Blvd. in his honor.