Eugene Callender | |
---|---|
Born | Eugene St. Clair Callender January 21, 1926 Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S. |
Died | November 2, 2013 Manhattan, New York, U.S. | (aged 87)
Education | Cambridge Rindge and Latin School; Boston University; Westminster Theological Seminary; New York Law School |
Occupation(s) | Pastor and activist |
Eugene S. Callender (January 21, 1926 – November 2, 2013[1]) was an American pastor and activist in the civil rights movement.
Eugene St. Clair Callender was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to parents who were immigrants from Barbados.[2] He studied at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School and Boston University, before becoming the first African American to study at Westminster Theological Seminary.[3] He later studied at New York Law School.[2]
For most of his life, Callender lived and worked in Harlem. He was the first black ordained minister in the Christian Reformed Church in North America (CRCNA).[4] A past executive director of the New York Urban League and a former president of the New York Urban Coalition, he also served as deputy administrator of the New York City Housing and Development Administration.[2]
In 1970, Callender hosted (with Joan Harris, at its launch) the hour-long WNBC‐TV (Channel 4) series Positively Black, which aired weekly,[5] featuring Black artists, writers, actors, musicians, sports figures and activists, as well as news about life and culture in the community.[6]