Paul Leonard Stagg (1914 - 2007)

Born 24 Feb 1914 in Eunice, LA

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 2 Jan 2007 at age 92 in Green Valley, AZ

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Mickie York [send private message]

Biography

Paul Leonard Stagg was born in St. Landry Parish, LA 2 February 1914 to Paul and Della E. Hammers Stagg. He grew up on a farm in Eunice with his brothers ( Lloyd, Edwin, Clifford, Frank, and William) and sister Julia Bayne Stagg Powell. He graduated from S. Louisiana College and Southern Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY where he was ordained as a Baptist minister.

As a Southern Baptist minister he joined the WWII Army AirCorps as a chaplain. Negro soldiers were placed under his charge and it was noting the discrimination they endured which would change his attitude toward non-whites. As a minister of the first Baptist Church in a small Virginia town in 1957, his refusal to let the church be used as a school for whites is well documented in both The New York Times and the Northern Virginia Daily. That decision created a hostile environment for him and his family. Nearly a year later he would move his family to New York where he joined the American Baptist Home Mission Society. From this position he joined Martin Luther King on marches and in jailfor to the fight to end segregation and secure voting rights for all Americans. After the Selma March and Voting Rights Act of 1965, he would move on to other social concerns such as the need for a Fair Housing Act. On this site, I will add documentation for some of the many causes he championed in his lifetime. He passed away in Green Valley, Arizona 2 January 2007 , just a month from his 93rd birthday. This is merely a rough outline of my father's life and will be edited and enhanced over time. ^[1]

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Sources

No sources. The events of Paul's life were either witnessed by Mickie York or Mickie plans to add sources here later.

Footnotes

1. ↑ Entered by Mickie York, Thursday, July 25, 2013.

Acknowledgments

Thank you to Mickie York for creating Stagg-85 on 25 Jul 13. Click the Changes tab for the details on contributions by Mickie and others.