32 Facts About James Farmer

James Farmer's father was a professor at Wiley College, a historically black college, and a Methodist minister with a Ph.

James Farmer's mother, a homemaker, was a graduate of Florida's Bethune-Cookman Institute and a former teacher.

When James Farmer was a young boy, about three or four, he wanted a Coca-Cola when he was out in town with his mother.

James Farmer's mother had adamantly told him no, that he had to wait until they got home.

James Farmer wanted a Coke immediately and enviously watched another young boy go inside and buy one.

James Farmer's mother told him the other boy could buy the Coke at that store because he was white, but Farmer was a person of color and not allowed there.

When James Farmer was 10, James Farmer's Uncle Fred, Aunt Helen, and cousin Muriel came down to visit from New York.

James Farmer was shocked to hear the lies, as his father was a minister.

James Farmer was a child prodigy; as a freshman in 1934 at the age of 14, he enrolled at Wiley College, a historically black college where his father was teaching in Marshall, Texas.

James Farmer was selected as part of the debate team.

At the age of 21, Farmer was invited to the White House to talk with President Franklin D Roosevelt.

James Farmer took a liking to her immediately, and the two of them monopolized the conversation.

James Farmer earned a Bachelor of Science degree at Wiley College in 1938, and a Bachelor of Divinity degree from Howard University School of Religion in 1941.

At Wiley, James Farmer became anguished over segregation, recalling particular occasions of racism he had witnessed or suffered in his younger days.

James Farmer started to think about how to stop racist practices in America while working at the Fellowship of Reconciliation, which he joined after college.

James Farmer miscarried, and the couple divorced not long afterward.

James Farmer had been diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease, so the two were told not to have children because at that time pregnancy was thought to exacerbate cancer.

James Farmer had a miscarriage but then successfully had a daughter, Tami Lynn Farmer, born on February 14,1959.

When James Farmer got back to Chicago, the group began setting up the organization.

In 1961, James Farmer, who was working for the NAACP, was reelected as the national director of CORE, as the civil rights movement was gaining power.

Gordon Carey proposed the idea of a second Journey of Reconciliation and James Farmer jumped at the idea.

James Farmer coined a new name for the trip: the Freedom Ride.

James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner, all of whom Farmer had helped recruit for CORE, disappeared during the Mississippi Freedom Summer.

James Farmer took a teaching position at Lincoln University, a historically black college near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

In 1968, James Farmer ran for US Congress as a Liberal Party candidate backed by the Republican Party, but lost to Shirley Chisholm.

The next year, frustrated by the Washington bureaucracy, James Farmer resigned from the position.

James Farmer retired from politics in 1971 but remained active, lecturing and serving on various boards and committees.

James Farmer was one of the signers of the Humanist Manifesto II in 1973.

James Farmer was named an honorary vice chairman of the Democratic Socialists of America.

James Farmer published his autobiography Lay Bare the Heart in 1985.

In 1984, James Farmer began teaching at Mary Washington College in Fredericksburg, Virginia.

James Farmer died on July 9,1999, of complications from diabetes in Fredericksburg, Virginia at the age of 79.