W. S. McIntosh

Who was W. S. McIntosh?

William Sumpter "W. S." McIntosh was a civil rights leader from Dayton, Ohio. In 1960, McIntosh went to Atlanta, Georgia to observe the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and on February 26, 1961, he led one of the first major civil rights protests in the Dayton, Ohio community. He challenged segregation in Dayton before the civil rights movement gained attention nationally. McIntosh tried negotiation first. If that didn't work, he roused blacks to push for their rights by picketing, sit-ins and boycotts. He utilized nonviolent methods to fight for the rights of minorities to work at Rike's department store, Liberal supermarket, and other establishments in the Dayton area.

McIntosh organized community groups and was the executive director of the Dayton chapter of the Congress of Racial Equality.

On March 4, 1974, McIntosh was shot in the heart and killed by Calvin Farmer outside his family-owned store while trying to prevent a robbery at a jewelry store in downtown Dayton.