Nathan Wright, Jr. (August 5, 1923 - February 22, 2005) was an Episcopal minister and scholar, and prominent advocate of the Black Power movement. Born in Shreveport, Louisiana, and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, Wright earned several academic degrees, including a bachelor's degree from the University of Cincinnati (1947), a master's degree from the Episcopal Theological School (1950), and a doctorate of education from Harvard University (1964). Ordained as a deacon and priest in 1950, Wright served the Episcopal Church in a variety of roles in Boston, Massachusetts; Newark, New Jersey; and Harlem, New York, where he was senior priest of St. Philip's Episcopal Church.
In 1947, Wright participated in the Journey of Reconciliation, a civil rights protest organized by the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) and the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR). Wright was one of the eight Black men, accompanied by eight white men, who rode buses through upper Southern states to test the enforcement of the US Supreme Court's decision that deemed segregation on interstate buses unconstitutional. In 1967, he chaired the first National Conference on Black Power in Newark, New Jersey, in the wake of race riots in the city.
Wright authored eighteen books, many dealing with race relations in America, including Let's Face Racism (1970). He lectured at various colleges and universities throughout the country. From 1969 to 1981, he was a professor of urban affairs at the State University of New York at Albany, and in 1971 became the founding chair of the Department of African and Afro-American Studies. In 1981, Wright moved to Paterson, New Jersey, and served as director of communications at Passaic County Community College. He traveled extensively in the 1990s, lecturing on behalf of the Episcopal Church and helping to maintain its connection to civil rights.
Wright married twice; to Barbara Wright in 1942, and following their divorce in circa 1969, to Pauline Wright. He remained with Pauline until the end of his life. Wright had five children, including his son Chi. Wright died at his home in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, at the age of 81.
For more information about his writing, see the biographical note in the finding aid for Nathan Wright papers and additions, Sc MG 754.