Nolan Bailey Harmon was born July 14, 1892, in Meridian, Mississippi, and died on June 8, 1993, one month before his 101st birthday.
Also in retirement, Bishop Harmon served on the faculty of Emory University as a visiting professor, continuing there into his 96th year.
[citation needed] In April 1963, Harmon made civil rights history when he, along with seven other white clergymen (including fellow-Methodist Bishop Paul Hardin Jr.), released a statement calling on African Americans to stop taking part in demonstrations initiated by the Rev.
In his 1983 autobiography, Bishop Harmon referred to the letter as a "propaganda move", but also wrote that he "certainly gave [King] his due as a brave man fighting off ages of evil".
In June 1963, Bishop Harmon spoke out after segregationist Governor George Wallace attempted to block the enrollment of black students at the University of Alabama, also known as the "Stand in the Schoolhouse Door".
However, Harmon also criticised "the type of lawless agitation carried on in Birmingham recently by certain Negro leaders".