--- title: Remembering the Life's Work of Civil Rights Icon C.T. Vivian description: C.T. Vivian's status as a civil rights pioneer was complemented by the remarkable longevity of his activism. canonical: https://time.com/5870458/ct-vivian-obituary/ author: Olivia B. Waxman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2020-07-23T10:09:44.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-24T09:02:05.313Z article:section: History og:title: Remembering the Life's Work and Legacy of Civil Rights Pioneer C.T. Vivian og:description: Vivian's status as a pioneer was complemented by the remarkable longevity of his activism og:url: https://time.com/5870458/ct-vivian-obituary/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0a40a4e5a448bad6/698a108f22fb8501f3e2b41b/ct-vivian-obituary.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2400 og:image:height: 1350 og:image:alt: ct-vivian-obituary og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Remembering the Life's Work and Legacy of Civil Rights Pioneer C.T. Vivian twitter:description: Vivian's status as a pioneer was complemented by the remarkable longevity of his activism twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0a40a4e5a448bad6/698a108f22fb8501f3e2b41b/ct-vivian-obituary.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Remembering the Life's Work and Legacy of Civil Rights Pioneer C.T. 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Its journalism is reported and edited by a professional newsroom led by Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs, with named correspondents on politics, climate, health, technology and culture. It reaches 1 million US print subscribers and 1.15 million globally, plus more than 1.1 million newsletter readers. #### How do I subscribe to TIME magazine? Subscriptions are at time.com/subscribe-agent. Choose digital only at $20 a year, or print and digital from $29 a year or $49 for two years. TIME also publishes seven free email newsletters at time.com/newsletters, which do not require a subscription. #### Can I cancel a TIME subscription? Yes. TIME states that subscriptions can be cancelled at any time. #### Does TIME have free newsletters? Yes. TIME publishes seven free email newsletters reaching more than 1.1 million readers, covering daily news, Washington politics, health, AI, climate and energy, culture, and the newsroom itself. They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription.  by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer Jul 23, 2020 10:09 AM UTC  Vivian at home in Atlanta in 2016 Vivian at home in Atlanta in 2016 Kevin D. Liles—The New York Times/Redux  by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer Jul 23, 2020 10:09 AM UTC Cordy Tindell “C.T.” Vivian was studying history at Western Illinois University when he dropped out to make history instead. A minister, a friend of Martin Luther King Jr.’s and a key organizer in the civil rights movement of the 1960s, Vivian died on July 17 at the age of 95, the same day as longtime Georgia Congressman and fellow activist John Lewis. In a movement in which young people like Lewis played a large role, Vivian represented an older generation that had laid many of its stepping-stones. It was the experience of growing up in Macomb, Ill., during the Great Depression that ignited his passion for economic justice. When he left college and went on to participate in a sit-in that led to the successful integration of a Peoria, Ill., eatery, it was only 1947–more than a full decade before the famous sit-in at the Woolworth’s lunch counter in Greensboro, N.C. Vivian honed his studies of nonviolence and strengthened his connections to the movement as a seminary student in Nashville in the late 1950s. In the years that followed, his life was a study in the reality that even those dedicated to nonviolence were forced to put those strategies to use in violent situations. In 1961, at the end of the Freedom Rides to challenge segregation on interstate buses, Vivian was beaten by Mississippi prison guards. And on Feb. 16, 1965, outside a Selma courthouse, Vivian compared notorious sheriff Jim Clark to Hitler; TV cameras captured Clark punching Vivian in the face. “We’re willing to be beaten for democracy,” Vivian hollered back. Two days later, he led a peaceful march in Marion, Ala., where a state trooper beat and shot civil rights activist Jimmie Lee Jackson. (Jackson died of his injuries.) The media coverage of these assaults on Black people helped persuade Republican politicians to call for federal legislation on voting rights. Vivian didn’t stop there. His status as a pioneer was complemented by the remarkable longevity of his activism. In 2013, President Barack Obama awarded Vivian the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, hailing him as “still in the action, pushing us closer to our founding ideals.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5870458/ct-vivian-obituary/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5870458/ct-vivian-obituary/"},"headline":"Remembering the Life's Work and Legacy of Civil Rights Pioneer C.T. Vivian","datePublished":"2020-07-23T10:09:44.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T09:02:05.313Z","description":"Civil rights stalwart","url":"https://time.com/5870458/ct-vivian-obituary/","keywords":["remembrance"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0a40a4e5a448bad6/698a108f22fb8501f3e2b41b/ct-vivian-obituary.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Olivia B. 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