William Sloane Coffin

William Sloane Coffin Jr. was an American Christian clergyman and long-time peace activist. He was ordained in the Presbyterian Church, and later received ministerial standing in the United Church of Christ. In his younger days he was an athlete, a talented pianist, a CIA officer, and later chaplain of Yale University, where the influence of H. Richard Niebuhr's social philosophy led him to become a leader in the civil rights movement and peace movements of the 1960s and 1970s. He also was a member of the secret society Skull and Bones. He went on to serve as senior minister at Riverside Church in New York City and President of SANE/Freeze, the nation's largest peace and social justice group, and prominently opposed United States military interventions in conflicts, from the Vietnam War to the Iraq War. He was also an ardent supporter of gay rights.

1 June 1924

Born on the same birth day (1 June): Bob Monkhouse • Carlota Ciganda • Colin Blakemore • Dirck Coornhert • Francesco Scipione Maffei • Francis V, Duke of Modena • Frank Cameron • Frédérik Deburghgraeve • Greg Schiano • Javier Hernández • Maarten van Heemskerck • Olivier Tielemans • Povel Ramel • Tony Snow

Born in the same month (June 1924): Billie Dawe • Colleen Dewhurst • Ezer Weizman • Ezzatolah Entezami • Frank Bolle • George Mikan • James Black (pharmacologist) • James W. McCord Jr. • Kurt Furgler • Madan Mohan (composer) • Max Trepp • Pontus Hultén • Roy Walford • The Sheik (wrestler) • William J. Castagna