Mathew H. Ahmann

Mathew H. Ahmann (September 10, 1931 – December 31, 2001) was an American Catholic layman and civil rights activist. He was a leader of the Catholic Church's involvement in the civil rights movement, and in 1960 founded and became the executive director of the National Catholic Council for Interracial Justice.

By initiating the 1963 National Conference on Religion and Race, Ahmann worked to establish the civil rights movement as a moral cause. He was one of four white men, along with Walter Reuther, Eugene Carson Blake, and Joachim Prinz, who joined the "Big Six" to organize the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. He gave a speech during the march that preceded the "I Have a Dream" speech of Martin Luther King Jr. He is not commonly thought of when thinking of the civil rights movement but has been said to have acted as a catalyst for the Catholic Church's involvement in the movement. Ahmann's grandfather, Mathew Hall, was a German-American immigrant and St. Cloud businessman. Ahmann was the oldest of three brothers; religion was a large part of everyday life as they attended Catholic school and religious retreats. Ahmann grew up a Boy Scout and playing music in a band.

Ahmann studied social science at Saint John's University for three years.

Leaders from 78 denominations attended, and speakers included Martin Luther King Jr., Sargent Shriver, and Abraham Joshua Heschel. After Ahmann's speech, Heschel invited Ahmann to the stage and said, "We are here because of the faith of a 33-year-old Catholic layman." Heschel kissed Ahmann on the head, and Ahmann received a standing ovation. Ahmann, as the Catholic presence, along with white leaders Walter Reuther, Eugene Carson Blake, and Joachim Prinz, joined the original "Big Six" to organize the march as the "Big Ten."

At the August 28 March on Washington, Ahmann gave a speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. He asked:

quote|Who can call himself a man, and take part in a system of segregation which frightens the white man into denying what he knows to be right, into denying the law of his God?

Ahmann continued to show his support to King and the movement in 1967 when he sent him a telegram on the 10-year anniversary of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to congratulate them on all of the work they had done and continued to do for human rights.

Later activities and death

Ahmann worked with the National Catholic Council for Interracial Justice until 1968. In 1969, he moved to Texas and became the executive director of the Commission on Church and Society for the Archdiocese of San Antonio. He was also an executive committee member of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights.

Personal life In 1954, Ahmann married Margaret C. Ahmann.