Reverend H. Edward Whitaker

Reverend H. Edward Whitaker was born in Mappsville, VA in 1918. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II and married Vivit Banks. He attended Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania where he became lifelong friends with a young Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 

In 1952, Whitaker moved to Niagara Falls, NY to serve as pastor of New Hope Baptist Church. Founded in 1937, “New Hope was originally located on MacKenna Avenue, but Whitaker had big plans to build a new church [on Buffalo Avenue] and he succeeded.” Although he invited King to the dedication ceremony, the Southern Baptist preacher wasn’t able to come until the following year. On July 22, 1956, King delivered two powerful sermons at New Hope which long inspired those in attendance and “served as a model for Niagara Falls activists.” 

Whitaker was one such activist. By 1959, he headed the Niagara Falls chapter of the NAACP. Over the years, he worked with other civil rights activists and organizations to improve the lives of African Americans in Niagara Falls. 

When Whitaker learned about the housing discrimination that African Americans faced when attempting to rent apartments or buy homes in areas populated by whites, he took action. In 1959, he voiced his concerns at the Niagara Falls Christian convention. He “told his fellow clergymen […] that fifty members of his congregation had to commute from Buffalo to Niagara Falls because they could not find decent housing in the city. The convention members [then] unanimously supported a resolution for fair housing for everyone without regard to race, color, creed, or national origin.”

In 1960, Whitaker held a public NAACP rally to support the students who had been arrested for participating in lunch counter sit-ins in the South. As part of a national directive, he also “organized picketing demonstrations at four local variety stores linked to southern chain stores that discriminated at their lunch counters [….]. [….] Under his leadership […] Black and White community members picketed the four stores in shifts, carrying signs that read, SEGREGATION IS IMMORAL and SUPPORT THE NAACP [.…].” Whitaker spent time on each picket line to help demonstrators meet their objectives.

Although he only spent ten years in Niagara Falls before moving on to another pastorate, Whitaker made a huge impact on the local civil rights movement. Additionally, his years-long correspondence with Dr. King is preserved at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute at Stanford University. 



Reverend H. Edward Whitaker passed away in his native Virginia in 2012--the same year that New Hope Baptist Church celebrated its 75th anniversary.

Hope L. Russell, Ph.D.