Elmer P. Gibson: Army Chaplain and Integration Pioneer, Pt. 3

By Matthew M. Peek, Military Collection Archivist, State Archives of North Carolina

This is Part 3 of a three-part blog post series on the life and pioneering U.S. Army service of African American Chaplain Elmer P. Gibson of Greensboro, N.C., and Philadelphia, PA. Gibson served from 1941 to 1957, and saw service in World War II and the Korean War. He was one of the major Army forces for racial integration of the U.S. Armed Forces from 1942 to 1954, and served as an advisor on racial integration to U.S. President Harry S. Truman starting around 1945. He was one of the officers who helped install the integration program at Fort Dix, NJ, in 1951. This series is dedicated to his children, Cornelia and Elmer H. Gibson, without whom this effort would not be possible.

You can read Part 2 of this blog post series, covering Gibson’s WWII Army service through this link.

With the end of WWII, Gibson was returning to civilian life when he was offered in December 1945 the opportunity to return to active Army duty as one of a few black chaplains needed for occupation duty in the European Theater in 1946. However, Gibson would not have been appointed to the Regular Army, which seems to have been the reason he did not accept the opportunity.

From December 1945 to June 1946, Gibson, who had now returned to civilian life, was assigned as a civilian to work as a chaplain at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Roanoke, Virginia. When he first arrived there, he was the only black member of the hospital’s personnel. By the time of his resignation to return to the U.S. Army after his short stay, the hospital employed two black doctors and seven black nurses. He also would be elected a trustee of the Delaware Conference of the Methodist Church in 1946.

MMP 9.B2.F12.1a: Photograph of a group of U.S. Army chaplains and officers standing on a stage in an unidentified building at Fort Jackson, S.C., around 1947. Pictured is Maj. Elmer P. Gibson (far left), who was serving as a chaplain with the 5th Provisional Training Regiment from the U.S. Army Chaplain Corps at Fort Jackson [circa 1947].

Gibson had decided that he wished to remain for a career in the Army while he was stationed overseas. On March 4, 1946, he took an Army examination administered at Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania, for his ability to be a career Army officer. Having passed his examination, Gibson was appointed to the regular U.S. Army with the permanent rank of Major by U.S. President Harry S. Truman. Gibson became one of the highest-ranking African Americans in the regular U.S. Army. By January 1947, the U.S. Army had on active duty in the Regular Army 1,700 military chaplains; of those, only 96 were not white. Gibson truly stood as one of the fewest representatives of African Americans in his military profession.

With his appointment in 1946, Elmer Gibson was selected by U.S. President Harry S. Truman to be an advisor for him in helping to create the plans and policies to enact a complete desegregation of the U.S. Armed Forces. Gibson would continue to serve in this capacity for Truman during his entire presidency, according to Gibson’s family. This was around the time that President Truman created the nine-member civilian Advisory Commission on Universal Training, which investigated from 1946 to 1947 the issue of racial equality in the U.S. Armed Forces. The only black member of this commission was Truman K. Gibson Jr., with whom Elmer Gibson was a friend and collaborator related to issues of race in the Army.

During WWII, Truman Gibson — who was serving in the U.S. War Department — traveled around to investigate a multitude of complaints from black servicemen and their families stationed in U.S. military installations who faced racism and physical attacks. It was during this period while Elmer Gibson was stationed in the South that he met Truman Gibson.

Although he was appointed as a Major in the Army, Elmer Gibson waited for his assignment, and would return to live in Philadelphia in July 1946. He remained there until September 1946. In September 1946, he attended the U.S. Army Chaplain School at Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, completing his time at the school in December 1946.

In December 1946, Maj. Gibson was assigned to Fort Jackson, S.C., as a chaplain with the 5th Provisional Training Regiment from the U.S. Army Chaplain Corps. He remained at Fort Jackson through May 13, 1947.

MMP 9.B3.F2.2: Photograph of the band of the African-American 365th Infantry Regiment standing outside of an unidentified base building at Fort Dix, New Jersey. Standing next to his chaplain’s jeep is U.S. Army Chaplain (Maj.) Elmer P. Gibson (far left), chaplain of the 365th Infantry Regiment, with a portable field altar in the back of the jeep. An unidentified white Army officer is seen standing next to Gibson (circa 1949).

Elmer Gibson was reassigned to be the chaplain of the 365th Infantry Regiment at Fort Dix, New Jersey in May 1947. He would be at Fort Dix from 1947 to 1952. By April 1950, Gibson was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. One of his big accomplishments was getting the funding for and installment of an immersion baptismal in Chapel №3 at Fort Dix, for use in baptizing black soldiers instead of using outside bodies of water for this. The baptismal was installed in December 1950.

MMP 9.B3.F1.4: Photograph of U.S. Army Chaplain (Maj.) Elmer P. Gibson, wearing his chaplain’s garments, standing outside of the door of a post chapel shaking hands with African American soldiers as they leave a chapel service at Fort Dix, New Jersey. Gibson was the chaplain of the 364th Infantry Regiment (undated) [Official Fort Dix Post Signal Office photograph].

MMP 9.B3.F1.3a: Photograph taken during an unidentified mission attended by members of the U.S. Army’s 364th Infantry Regiment in the regiment’s post chapel at Fort Dix, New Jersey. Pictured standing at the front of the chapel are (left to right): Maj. Elmer P. Gibson, chaplain of the 364th Infantry who directed the religious services for the mission; Chaplain B. T. Davis, who had arrived for duty during the mission; Dr. N. H. Jeltz, secretary of the department of evangelism of the African Methodist Episcopal Church; and Dr. M. H. Bickham, representative from the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ of America. The attendance by the 364th Infantry Regiment members was the largest at Fort Dix of any unit during this particular religious mission (undated) [Official U.S. Army Signal Corps photograph].

On July 26, 1948, President Harry S. Truman issued Executive Order 9981, establishing equality of treatment and opportunity in the U.S. military regardless of race — though it took longer for the military branches to take action on integration. During this period, Gibson testified before President Truman’s Committee on Equality of Treatment and Opportunity in the Armed Services (also known as the “Fahy Committee” after the committee chairman Charles Fahy), established in July 1948. Its purpose was to recommend revisions of military regulations in order to implement the government’s policy of equality of treatment and opportunity for all members of the armed forces, regardless of race, color, religion or national original. It is known by the Gibson family that former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt recommended Elmer Gibson as a person to appear as a witness on the issue of racial integration before the Fahy Committee. This committee released its report entitled “Freedom to Serve” in May 1950.

Between 1947 and 1950, Gibson wrote, spoke, testified, and answered questionnaires on the issues of integration and race relations in the U.S. Armed Forces. Gibson provided answers to a U.S. Army questionnaire entitled “Employment of Negro Manpower,” believed to be during this period. On the question of whether “Do you believe that colored and white troops should be integrated completely — that is, assigned to units without regard to color,” Gibson wrote based on his experiences in WWII that:

“No. Should this be done without careful thought and consideration in the regards to the selection of both officers and enlisted men, and without regard to locality, I am apprehensive as to the good it would do. It perhaps would do more harm than good to the proposed policy of desegration at this time. If complete integration is to be successful[ly] achieved, it should be gradual and by evolution rather than revolution.”

U.S. Secretary of Defense Louis Johnson approved a U.S. Army program for racial equality to begin after the program’s announcement in September 1949. Since 1947, Maj. Gibson had been working to hold biracial church and chapel services and baptisms at Fort Dix. As of 1951, the U.S. Army had nine training divisions. The training division at Fort Ord, California, was the Army’s first one to be integrated. Fort Dix and Fort Knox, Kentucky, were the last two training divisions to be integrated in 1951.

MMP 9.B3.F1.5: Photograph of U.S. Army Chaplain (Maj.) Elmer P. Gibson, wearing his chaplain’s garments, kneeling at the altar of a post chapel at Fort Dix, New Jersey, during a religious service. He is pictured holding what appears to be a Bible or hymn book on the altar during the service (undated).

MMP 9.B3.F1.8: Photograph of U.S. Army Chaplain (Maj.) Elmer P. Gibson (right), performing a baptism of an unidentified African American Army soldier in the new immersion baptismal in Chapel №3 at Fort Dix, New Jersey, between 1950 and 1952. Gibson is being assisted by an Army corporal nicknamed “Rev” (left) [circa 1950–1952].

MMP 9.B3.F2.5a: Photograph of U.S. Army Chaplain (Maj.) Elmer P. Gibson (seen standing in the water, wearing black robe), chaplain of the 365th Infantry Regiment, preparing to baptize a man during a Christian baptism service at the Enlisted Men’s Lake [believed to be the Lake O’ the Woods] at Fort Dix, New Jersey. A group of African-American soldiers [believed to be with the 365th Infantry Regiment] are seen standing on the shore looking on (undated).

MMP 9.B3.F2.3: Photograph of a group of African-American soldiers [believed to be with the 365th Infantry Regiment] standing on the shore of the Enlisted Men’s Lake [believed to be the Lake O’ the Woods] at Fort Dix, New Jersey, during a Christian baptism service. The baptisms were being conducted by U.S. Army Chaplain (Maj.) Elmer P. Gibson (seen standing in the water, wearing black robe), chaplain of the 365th Infantry Regiment (undated).

MMP 9.B3.F2.7a: Photograph of white and black U.S. Army officers, soldiers, and their families, singing during a lakeside chapel service on the shores of a lake [believed to be the Lake O’ the Woods] in Browns Mill, New Jersey, around 1949. The soldiers were from Fort Dix, New Jersey. The service was being led by U.S. Army Chaplain (Maj.) Elmer P. Gibson, chaplain of the 365th Infantry Regiment. Pictured leading the singing are (left to right) Melnese Gibson, Chaplain Gibson’s wife; Captain Jackson, director of Fort Dix’s AA Cappella Choir; and Col. Harry B. Emigh, regimental commander of the 365th Infantry Regiment. This service was an early attempt by Elmer Gibson in integration of white and black Army service individuals [circa 1949].

It was from the chaplaincy work of Elmer Gibson at Fort Dix since 1947, and the respect he had earned among the officers and men at the base, that he was able to attempt efforts of integration early in religious situations. In April 1950, Fort Dix’s Commanding General Devine wrote that “It is difficult to over-estimate the value of Chaplain Gibson as a wise counsellor and spiritual leader of his unit. His success in his field is phenomenal. I consider him one of my ablest and most trusted advisors.”

MMP 9.B3.F2.10: Photograph of an outdoor chapel service for members of the African-American 365th Infantry Regiment on the parade grounds at Fort Dix, New Jersey. The service was being led by U.S. Army Chaplain (Maj.) Elmer P. Gibson (standing next to the lectern), chaplain of the 365th Infantry Regiment. Pictured leading the singing is Chaplin Gibson’s wife Melnese Gibson (undated).

On January 20, 1951, all of Fort Dix was fully integrated in training units — at least in announcement, with months required to fulfill the integration order. The base was integrated under the plan conceived and led by Lt. Col. N. R. Walker, assistant chief of staff at Fort Dix, and Chaplain (Lt. Col.) Elmer Gibson.

Both parts of a two-page article published on the front page entitled under “Fort Dix Rated Best,” published by the African American newspaper the Baltimore Afro American on the desegregation process implemented at Fort Dix, NJ, in 1951 by Lt. Col. N. R. Walker and Chaplain (Lt. Col.) Elmer P. Gibson [from Baltimore Afro American, Baltimore, Maryland, August 7, 1951, Pages 1–2].

As part of their plan, Walker appointed Lt. Col. Elmer Gibson on June 7, 1951, as the division and post chaplain for the 9th Infantry Division at Fort Dix, New Jersey. He would be in charge of 23 other white and black Army chaplains at the base. Gibson took over the chaplain’s post from Col. Robert S. Hall, with whom Gibson had worked in the U.S. Army’s program of integration of African American and white military personnel in all aspects of life at Fort Dix. Gibson thus became the first African-American U.S. Army post chaplain in American history.

MMP 9.B3.F1.9: Photograph looking out from the front at the attendees of an unidentified chapel service at what is believed to be Chapel №3 at Fort Dix, New Jersey, presided over by U.S. Army Chaplain (Maj.) Elmer P. Gibson. Seen sitting on the front bench is Elmer H. Gibson (second from left, front right bench), Chaplain Gibson’s son. Sitting to his right is Col. Harry B. Emigh, regimental commander of the 365th Infantry Regiment (undated) [Official Fort Dix Post Signal Office photograph].

Walker and Gibson’s integration plan called for integration at the squad unit level, so that fewer groups of white soldiers would be grouped with at least one or two black soldiers — instead of five to ten black soldiers being thrown into a larger company or battalion, where unwilling commanding officers could put all the men in individual sub-units to continue a quasi-segregation practice.

MMP 9.B3.F2.13: Photograph looking out from the front at the mostly African American attendees of an unidentified chapel service at Fort Dix, New Jersey, presided over by U.S. Army Chaplain (Maj.) Elmer P. Gibson. All of the soldiers pictured serve in the 9th Infantry Division (undated).

In Fort Dix recreational activities, Walker and Gibson required that everything on the base be opened to all men stationed there, regardless of color. In chapel services on Sundays, Chaplain Gibson by the summer of 1951 was preaching to audiences composed of 85% white soldiers and 15% black soldiers. Gibson also setup a two-week Bible school at Fort Dix that wound up being around 98% white soldiers attending. The integration effort took around six months to complete to the spirit of the order for integration, and was reported in August 1951 as a success in an article in the Baltimore Afro American newspaper.

MMP 9.B3.F1.7: Photograph of African American heavyweight boxing champion Jersey Joe Walcott (right), shaking hands with U.S. Army Chaplain (Maj.) Elmer P. Gibson (left), in Gibson’s chaplain’s post chaplain’s office at Fort Dix, New Jersey, around 1951 or 1952 [circa 1951–1952] [photograph is misdated on the back].

MMP 9.B3.F2.12: Photograph of U.S. Army Chaplain (Maj.) Elmer P. Gibson (standing next to the microphone clapping his hands), chaplain of the 365th Infantry Regiment, singing with an unidentified woman into a portable sound system outside in the woods at a chapel service for members of the U.S. Army’s African-American 365th Infantry Regiment at Fort Dix, New Jersey (undated).

One of Elmer Gibson’s favorite things was to play the organ. He would compose and arrange worship songs and hymns for use by military chapel congregations. Between 1949 and 1951, Gibson worked with the husband and wife songwriting partners U.S. Army Chaplin (Maj.) Martin H. and Dorothy Scharlemann, with Scharlemann serving at the U.S. Army’s Chaplain School at Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania. The couple worked to publish Christian worship songs and hymns they wrote, with Gibson contributing the musical arrangement and the Scharlemans contributing the lyrics for several songs. Gibson also wrote his own lyrics and musical arrangements, on large blank sheet music on which he transcribed notes and words while playing at an organ. In June 1951 while serving as a chaplain at Fort Dix, Gibson wrote and composed the worship song “Alleluia! Praise His Name!,” which he published and copyrighted.

MMP 9.B3.F1.6: Photograph of U.S. Army Chaplain (Maj.) Elmer P. Gibson (right), sitting playing at a chapel organ while his commanding officer Brig. Gen. John F. Goodman (left) stands looking on in one of the post chapels at Fort Dix, New Jersey, during the 1950s. Gibson was serving as the division and post chaplain for the 9th Infantry Division at Fort Dix at the time. In the background is seen the chapel’s altar and the American flag [circa 1952].

Gibson had been seriously misdiagnosed in October 1950 at Walter Reed General Hospital as possibly having ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease. In April 1951, Gibson spent time at Walter Reed General Hospital for follow-up evaluation of the ALS diagnosis. He was returned in May 1951 on limited duty without any relief from his pain. The Army’s neurological expert treating Gibson changed his diagnosis years later to an unspecified neurological condition [it is believed by Gibson’s family that the issues were caused by his back injury that he had suffered in WWII from a fall in the Aleutian Islands]. He would end up admitted to several other Army hospitals as he attempted to figure out what was causing his nerve issues, but he never would be properly diagnosed while still in the Army.

By March 1952, Gibson was serving as the assistant division chaplain at Fort Dix. In April 1952, Elmer Gibson was ordered for overseas service in the Korean War. He arrived in Korea on May 8, 1952, and was assigned to serve as the assistant corps chaplain of the U.S. Army X (Tenth) Corps. He became the first African American assistant or full corps U.S. Army chaplain in American history.

MMP 9.B3.F7.9: Photograph of U.S. Army Chaplain (Maj.) Elmer P. Gibson (standing up holding a paper under aircraft wing, center), assistant corps chaplain of the X Corps, talking to wounded American soldiers lying under the wing of a U.S. Air Forces airplane as they were waiting to be evacuated to a medical facility in 1952 somewhere in Korea during the Korean War. Caring for injured soldiers was part of Gibson’s religious and military responsibilities in his position with the X Corps (1952).

MMP 9.B3.F7.3a: Photograph of the members of the U.S. Army’s X Corps Choir, standing in front of the X Corps’ Chapel on a Hill in November 1952 in Korea during the Korean War. The chapel was operated by Chaplain (Maj.) Elmer P. Gibson, assistant corps chaplain of the Army’s X Corps [November 1952].

MMP 9.B3.F7.4a: Photograph of U.S. Army soldiers from the X Corps leaving a service at the corps’ Chapel on a Hill on November 28, 1952, somewhere in Korea during the Korean War. The chapel was operated by Chaplain (Maj.) Elmer P. Gibson, assistant corps chaplain of the Army’s X Corps (November 28, 1952).

MMP 9.B3.F3.2: Photograph of New York City Rabbi Aryeh Lev (left), being welcomed to the U.S. Army’s X Corps headquarters in Korea by Col. Carl T. Isham (right), deputy chief of staff of the X Corps, on a runway under the airplane’s wing during the Korean War. Rabbi Lev was touring Korea at the time as a supervisor with the Jewish Welfare Board’s Chaplaincy Commission. Pictured in the background is Chaplain (Maj.) Elmer P. Gibson, assistant corps chaplain of the Army’s X Corps [circa 1952].

MMP 9.B3.F7.11a: Group photograph of U.S. Army chaplains posing outside of the Army’s 2nd Infantry Division Ivanhoe Chapel during a spiritual advance program for the chaplains somewhere in Korea during the Korean War. Pictured is Chaplain (Lt. Col.) Elmer P. Gibson (front row, far right), division chaplain of the 2nd Infantry Division [circa 1953].

Gibson ministered to injured Army soldiers in portable field hospitals; talked to and prayed for injured soldiers on runways waiting to be evacuated; held chapel services for both white and black Army troops; and ministered to local Korean Christian churches. He helped hand out clothing and food to Koreans affected by the war.

MMP 9.B3.F3.3: Photograph of the dedication ceremony for the U.S. Army X Corps’ new recreation center in Korea during the Korean War. Pictured leading a prayer during the ceremony is Chaplain (Maj.) Elmer P. Gibson (left), assistant corps chaplain of the Army’s X Corps, as Lt. Gen. Isaac D. White, commanding officer of the X Corps, holds his hat over his heart just outside of the center’s doorway during the prayer [circa 1952–1953].

In December 1952, American evangelist Billy Graham received permission from the War Department after petitioning them to visit American soldiers in South Korea in order to minister to them. While here, he met with and preached with Lt. Col. Gibson to soldiers with the X Corps for Christmas 1952.

MMP 9.B3.F7.6: Photograph of American evangelist Billy Graham (second from left) talking with Col. Carl T. Isham (right), deputy chief of staff of the U.S. Army’s X Corps, outside in camp in December 1952 after he arrived at the headquarters of the X Corps somewhere in Korea during the Korean War. Pictured with the men is Chaplain (Maj.) Elmer P. Gibson (second from right), assistant corps chaplain of the X Corps. Photograph taken during Graham’s tour to visit American soldiers serving in the Korean War during the Christmas 1952 season [December 1952].

MMP 9.B3.F7.5: Photograph of American evangelist Billy Graham (fourth from left) posing outside with officers and chaplains from the U.S. Army’s X Corps in camp around December 1952, just after he arrived at the headquarters of the X Corps somewhere in Korea during the Korean War. Pictured are: an Army officer named Porter (second from left); Col. Carl T. Isham, deputy chief of staff of the X Corps (third from left); an Army officer named Evans (third from right); and Chaplain (Maj.) Elmer P. Gibson (second from right), assistant corps chaplain of the X Corps. Photograph taken during Graham’s tour to visit American soldiers serving in the Korean War during the Christmas 1952 season [December 1952].

MMP 9.B3.F7.7: Photograph of American evangelist Billy Graham standing at a lectern preaching to soldiers and officers in a military field chapel for the U.S. Army’s X Corps in December 1952 somewhere in Korea during the Korean War. Pictured seated is Chaplain (Maj.) Elmer P. Gibson (seated to left of lectern, with a dark-colored stole around his neck, facing the camera), assistant corps chaplain of the X Corps. Graham and Gibson appear to have been conducting the chapel service or special sermon together. Photograph taken during Graham’s tour to visit American soldiers serving in the Korean War during the Christmas 1952 season [December 1952].

In May 1953, Gibson received the Bronze Star Medal for meritorious service as assistant chaplain of the U.S. Army’s X Corps from May 8, 1952, to April 14, 1953. In May 1953, Lt. Col. Gibson would become the division chaplain for the U.S. Army’s 2nd Infantry Division in 1953. He would receive in September 1953 the Bronze Star Medal (First Bronze Oak-Leaf Cluster) while the 2nd Infantry Division chaplain. He was noted in the citation for having “frequently visited the front-line troops, often under fire, to conduct religious service and see to their spiritual guidance and well-beings.” Part of Gibson’s service as division chaplain was also to be a liaison between 2nd Division soldiers and their families back home, in order to notify them of their condition and safety.

MMP 9.B3.F3.5: Photograph of a Bronze Star Award medal presentation by U.S. Army Chaplain Mullany [or Mullaney] (at left) to SFC Deem [or Deans, Deems, or Deams] (at right) of the U.S. Army’s X Corps. Pictured looking on is Maj. Elmer P. Gibson (center), assistant corps chaplain of the Army’s X Corps (undated).

After the Korean Armistice Agreement ended combat in July 1953, Gibson returned to the United States from Korea in October 1953, after spending an 18-month tour of duty there. He was stationed in Headquarters, 2nd Infantry Division, at Fort Lewis, Washington, in November 1953. Lt. Col. Gibson was assigned as assistant post chaplain eventually at Fort Lewis. He remained in that position until August 1954, when he was named as the chaplain of the 44th Infantry Division at Fort Lewis.

MMP 9.B3.F8.11: Photograph of the U.S. Army Main Chapel building at Fort Lewis, Washington, during the 1950s [1950s].

MMP 9.B3.F8.10: Photograph taken from the central aisle looking at the altar and front pews of U.S. Army Chapel №5 at Fort Lewis, Washington (undated).

MMP 9.B2.F8.13: Studio portrait of U.S. Army chaplain Lt. Col. Elmer P. Gibson, wearing his full Army uniform, taken on November 28, 1955, while he was serving as the division chaplain of the 2nd Infantry Division at Fort Lewis, Washington (November 28, 1955) [Photograph by: Pfc David L. Jaeckels, 2nd Signal Company, 2nd Infantry Division].

MMP 9.B3.F8.3: Photograph of U.S. Army 2nd Infantry Division commander Maj. Gen. Thomas Timberman making the first cut into the cake that commemorates the 180th anniversary of the chaplains of the U.S. Army, as a ceremony on July 27, 1955, at Fort Lewis, Washington. Looking on are Maj. Edward M. Luettgen (left), assistant division chaplain of the 2nd Infantry Division, and Lt. Col. Elmer P. Gibson (right), division chaplain of the 2nd Infantry Division (July 27, 1955) [Photograph by: Pfc Jaeckels, 2nd Signal Company, Fort Lewis, Wash.].

Sometime later before April 1955, Gibson was named as the 2nd Infantry Division Chaplain at Fort Lewis. Elmer Gibson remained at Fort Lewis, until he retired from the U.S. Army holding the rank of Lieutenant Colonel on January 24, 1957.

MMP 9.B3.F8.7: Photograph of 2nd Infantry Division officers and chaplains inspecting Thanksgiving food baskets for needy families put together in Chapel №5 at Fort Lewis, Washington, on November 22, 1955. Pictured conducting the inspection are (left to right): Maj. Edward M. Luettgen, assistant division chaplain of the 2nd Infantry Division; Chaplain Maj. Milton B. Crist; Brig. Gen. Fred W. Bladen Jr., assistant commander of the 2nd Infantry Division; and Lt. Col. Elmer P. Gibson, division chaplain of the 2nd Infantry Division (November 22, 1955) [Photograph by: Pfc Roland Severson, 2nd Signal Company, 2nd Infantry Division].

MMP 9.B3.F8.8: Photograph of members of the Methodist Ministers Conference of Tacoma, Washington, and vicinity, visiting Fort Lewis, Washington, on January 19, 1956. The ministers are pictured standing outside next to several U.S. Army M-48 tanks and with officers from the 72nd Tank Battalion. Pictured is Lt. Col. Elmer P. Gibson (second from right), division chaplain of the 2nd Infantry Division (January 19, 1956) [Photograph by: Pvt. Joseph Colelle, 6/A Regional Photo Lab, Fort Lewis, Wash.].

MMP 9.B3.F16.8: Photograph from the military wedding ceremony of U.S. Army Lt. Clive Luke Miller and Cornelia Gibson, Chaplain Elmer Gibson’s daughter, at Fort Lewis, Washington, at the Gibson family house in Quarters 366 on May 28, 1955. The wedding was officiated by Army Chaplain (Lt. Col.) Elmer P. Gibson, the division chaplain for the 2nd Infantry Division. In this picture, groom (far right) Lt. Clive Luke Miller and bride Cornelia Gibson (second from right) are pictured facing each other in front of Chaplain Gibson during the wedding ceremony, with their bridesmaids and groomsmen standing next to them. Gibson’s son Elmer H. Gibson (far left) is pictured standing next to a flower arrangement during the ceremony (July 1955) [Photograph by: Richards Studio, Tacoma, Washington].

MMP 9.B3.F17.5: Photograph from the military wedding ceremony of U.S. Army Lt. Clive Luke Miller and Cornelia Gibson, Chaplain Elmer Gibson’s daughter, at Fort Lewis, Washington, at the Gibson family house in Quarters 366 on May 28, 1955. The wedding was officiated by Army Chaplain (Lt. Col.) Elmer P. Gibson, the division chaplain for the 2nd Infantry Division. In this picture, the bride (far right) and her bridesmaids pose for a photograph with Chaplain Gibson outside on the lawn of the house where the wedding took place after the wedding ceremony (July 1955) [Photograph by: Richards Studio, Tacoma, Washington].

After his military service, Elmer Gibson returned to Philadelphia, where he obtained a position as a guidance and academic councilor with the Philadelphia City School District. He would attend Temple University, where he earned a master’s degree in educational psychology in 1959. Also in 1959, he was elected to serve as the seventh president of Morristown College in Morristown, Tennessee.

On December 7, 1961, the Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools accredited Morristown College as a class A school, one of Gibson’s many successful efforts at growing the school. Even so, the college would find an ironic success of the 1960s civil rights movement negatively affecting it financially as a historically black college. African American students were now able to attend previously all-white, state-supported colleges and universities, which could offer cheaper tuition rates and received federal funding that was unavailable to Morristown College.

MMP 9.B4.F2.13: Photograph of Dr. Elmer P. Gibson (left) posing with his wife Melnese (center) and their son Elmer H. in the President’s House at Morristown College in Morristown, Tennessee, around 1959. Gibson was the president of Morristown College at the time [circa 1959].

Because of this, Morristown found it increasingly difficult to compete with the larger public institutions financially. President Gibson fought this trend in order to keep the school financially and academically viable. In 1964, Dr. Elmer Gibson was appointed by Tennessee Governor Frank Clement to the state’s first Commission on Human Relations. He would be reappointed to the Commission by Gov. Buford Ellington, and elected president of the Commission in 1967. In 1968, Elmer Gibson served as a delegate from the state of Tennessee at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Gibson retired as the president of Morristown College in 1969.

MMP 9.B4.F2.14: Color photograph of Rev. Dr. Elmer P. Gibson, taken sometime in the 1980s [circa 1980s].

After his retirement, Dr. Gibson returned to live in West Philadelphia. Rev. Dr. Elmer P. Gibson died at the age of 90 on June 10, 1994. He was buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery, and is buried in Section 64, Site 565.

To learn more about the life and military service of Elmer P. Gibson, check out the Elmer P. Gibson Papers (MMP 9) in the Miscellaneous Military Papers of the Military Collection at the State Archives of North Carolina. You can view all of Elmer Gibson’s photographs online through the State Archives of North Carolina’s Flickr page in this album.

Resources

Elmer P. Gibson Papers, MMP 9, Miscellaneous Military Papers, Military Collection, State Archives of North Carolina, Raleigh, N.C.

“Fort Dix Rated Best,” Baltimore Afro American, Baltimore, Maryland, August 7, 1951, Pages 1–2, accessed through NewspaperArchive.com.