As chaplain at Yale University, the Rev. William Sloane Coffin, Jr., first rose to prominence during the 1960s as a leader in the civil rights and anti-Vietnam War movements. Calling himself a "Christian revolutionary," he gained national attention as one of seven Freedom Riders arrested and convicted in 1961 in Montgomery, Alabama, while protesting local segregation laws.
At the height of the anti-war movement, Coffin co-founded the organization Clergy and Laity Concerned about Vietnam and began offering the sanctuary of his Yale chapel to men who refused to serve in Vietnam. He also helped organize a rally in Boston in which 944 young men turned in their draft cards, for which he was arrested for, and convicted of, conspiracy. The conviction was later overturned on appeal.
After leaving Yale, Coffin was appointed senior minister of New York's Riverside Church, where he founded the church's acclaimed Disarmament Program, for which he traveled around the world promoting international peace and human rights. In 1979, he was one of four clergymen invited by Iran's ruling Revolutionary Council to celebrate Christmas services with the American hostages held at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. From 1987-90, he served as president of SANE/FREEZE: Campaign for Global Security, the largest peace and justice organization in the United States.
His autobiography, Once to Every Man, was published in 1977. He also wrote the books The Courage to Love, Living the Truth in a World of Illusions, and A Passion for the Possible.
He died on April 12, 2006, at the age of 81.