Rev. Abernathy, Dr. King’s Closest Friend in ‘60s, Dies

The Rev. Ralph David Abernathy, who fought for civil rights alongside his friend Martin Luther King Jr. during the 1960s, died today in a hospital at the age of 64.

Abernathy died at Crawford Long Hospital, which he entered three weeks ago for an electrolytic imbalance. Hospital officials said his heart stopped during a lung scan, and he died while in an operating room.

Abernathy, a Baptist minister whose grandfather was a slave, was criticized last year by many for discussing King’s alleged extramarital affairs in his memoirs.

Abernathy was King’s closest friend and associate until King was assassinated in 1968, and helped King found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

Abernathy caused a furor in the civil rights community last fall with a controversial autobiography, “And the Walls Came Tumbling Down,” which referred to King’s alleged extramarital affairs.

Abernathy mentioned in his book that King dallied with various women April 3, 1968, his last night alive. He became the first of the civil rights inner circle to openly discuss King’s alleged marital infidelities, which had been chronicled by several biographers.

In 1957, King, Abernathy and several other black clergymen formed the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to boost their struggle for civil rights for blacks in the South.

King was assassinated in Memphis, Tenn., on April 4, 1968, and shortly thereafter Abernathy assumed the fallen leader’s position as SCLC president. He held the position for nine years, as the focus of the civil rights movement shifted from voting rights and civil rights to such economic issues as full employment and anti-poverty programs.

He resigned in 1977 to campaign for Congress but was defeated in the Democratic primary.