Remembering Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1962 Visit to Lynchburg and Camp Kum-Ba-Yah
On March 27, 1962, Dr. King visited Lynchburg as part of his People‑to‑People Tour across southern Virginia. The visit was focused on voter registration, nonviolence, and encouraging young people and community members to continue the long work of justice and equality. The day culminated with a public address at E.C. Glass High School, following a series of other gatherings and visits across Lynchburg.
Camp Kum-Ba-Yah Nature Center occupies a unique place in Lynchburg’s Civil Rights history, having played host to a portion of Martin Luther King, Jr’s 1962 visit as well as other significant events in the year leading up to it. Themes of welcome, inclusion, and appreciation for diversity span CKBY’s founding, history, and ongoing mission today.
Lynchburg and the Road to 1962
Dr. King’s visit to Lynchburg in 1962 occurred during a period of growing local engagement with the national Civil Rights Movement. In December 1960, six college students, later known as the Patterson Six, staged a peaceful sit‑in at the segregated lunch counter inside Patterson’s Drug Store. Their refusal to leave, and the arrests that followed, marked one of the city’s earliest and most visible challenges to segregation in public accommodations. The sit‑in drew attention to the everyday realities of racial exclusion in Lynchburg and underscored the role that students, faith leaders, and community members were beginning to play in advancing nonviolent protest.
Only a few months later on July 4th, 1961, as the City of Lynchburg chose to close its public swimming pools rather than integrate them, Rev. Bev Cosby, a founder of Camp Kum-Ba-Yah, chose to welcome members of the African-American community to use the camp pools. Most white families who were swimming at the camp pools that day got out, refusing to swim with neighbors of color. Those families who remained to share the pools faced harassment, threats, and vandalism in the months that followed. Additionally, all but 9 campers were withdrawn from summer activities at the camp in protest.
Integrating the camp pools was not Cosby’s first effort towards creating inclusive and desegregated spaces in Lynchburg. At the time, Camp Kum-Ba-Yah was interwoven with Cosby’s church congregation: The Church of the Covenant, which remains on the same property as the camp just off Boonsboro Rd. Modeled after The Church of the Saviour in Washington D.C., and started by Bev’s brother Gordon Cosby, the Church of the Covenant was established in 1954 as one of the first intentionally, racially integrated churches in Lynchburg. The church’s coffeeshop, the Lodge of the Fisherman, opened in 1962 as as a place “where genuine conversation and dialogue could take place.” Bev Cosby was a leader and founding member of both the camp and church, which were not distinct entities until 1983.
Dr. King at Camp Kum-Ba-Yah
When Dr. King arrived in Lynchburg in the spring of 1962, Cosby’s leadership had already positioned Camp Kum-Ba-Yah as a meaningful site in Lynchburg’s ongoing Civil Rights movement. King was fed lunch at the Lodge of the Fisherman, then the only integrated dining establishment in Lynchburg, aside from the Lynchburg General Hospital cafeteria. Bev Cosby and other church members served the meal that day, mere yards away from the camp pools, which had come into focus the summer before.
No photos are known to have been taken during the meal, although others exist of Dr. King’s 8:00 pm speech that evening at E.C. Glass High School. King also visited Diamond Hill Baptist Church and the home of Anne Spencer, went knocking door-to-door to encourage voter registration, ate dinner at the Mecca Restaurant on Bedford Ave., and spent the evening at the home of Dr. George F. Jackson.
Exploring Dr. King’s Lynchburg Visit
For those who wish to learn more about Dr. King’s time in Lynchburg and the places he visited on March 27, 1962, we invite you to explore the following resources:
Lynchburg Museum System – Following the Footsteps of Martin Luther King Jr. in Lynchburg:
https://lynchburgmuseum.org/2022-4-12-following-the-footsteps-of-martin-luther-king-jr-in-lynchburg/Transcript of Dr. King’s March 27, 1962 address at E.C. Glass High School (News & Advance):
https://newsadvance.com/news/local/the-american-dream-mlk-address-in-1962-at-e-c-glass/article_0111949a-d1fe-5224-9a6b-637417456bd4.htmlInteractive map of Dr. King’s visit to Lynchburg:
https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/1/viewer?ll=37.40922101402519%2C-79.15893003675384&z=14&mid=18fEumIFDW5aNmlpCIypsP13ilyQ3AUZlVirginia General Assembly – Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Commission (King in Southside Virginia):
https://mlkcommission.dls.virginia.gov/kinginvirginia/southside.htmlChurch of the Covenant – About Us:
https://chcov.org/about-usPatterson Drug Store Sit In - Randolph College
Carrying the Legacy Forward
As Camp Kum-Ba-Yah Nature Center prepares for a historic 75th year of summer camp, we are mindful that our story is inseparable from the broader story of our community and the ongoing pursuit of justice, inclusion, and belonging. Dr. King’s visit in 1962 reminds us that the values we hold today have deep roots. May we continue to honor that legacy by fostering places where genuine conversation can still take place and where every person is welcomed with dignity.
“We are not makers of history. We are made by history.” — Martin Luther King Jr.
