The Reverend Bob Tabscott, Presbyterian minister and organizer and president of the Elijah Parish Lovejoy Society of St. Louis, will speak at the inaugural Rabbi Perry Nussbaum Lecture on Friday, April 4, at 12:30 p.m. The lecture will take place in room 215 of the Ford Academic Complex at Millsaps College and is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Lynn Raley at 601-974-1423.
Funded by a $250,000 gift from renal care pioneer Dr. John Bower, The Rabbi Perry Nussbaum Lecture Series is dedicated to the men and women who stood their ground against racial bigotry and religious prejudice in the South during the Civil Rights Era. Dr. Bower established the lecture series at Millsaps College in honor of Rabbi Perry Nussbaum, whose courage and vision epitomized the continuing vigil for freedom and justice.
Robert W. Tabscott was ordained a Presbyterian minister in 1962, and his career as a clergyman spanned 40 years. His most recent endeavors have been as a consultant to numerous public schools in Missouri on the black legacy in American life. He has been an op-ed editorial writer for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, a commentator on National Public Radio, a filmmaker and the author of a book on the life and death of Elijah Parrish Lovejoy, an abolitionist minister and newspaper editor.
Rabbi Perry Nussbaum accepted the position of rabbi at Jackson’s Beth Israel Congregation in 1954 and served the temple during the tumultuous years of the Civil Rights Movement, including the temple’s 1967 bombing. Throughout his ministry, his faith and courage were an inspiration to clergy of all traditions. Nussbaum retired from Beth Israel in 1978 to San Diego, Calif., where he served as chaplain to a variety of organizations. He died of cancer in 1983 and was buried with full Jewish and military honors.
Dr. Bower, whose gift makes The Rabbi Perry Nussbaum Lecture Series possible, calls Nussbaum “a man who was willing to focus on issues that were important to all of us.” He added in explanation of his vision for this lecture series: “I felt very strongly that something should be done to perpetuate his memory.”
