A longtime pastor and a local pioneer in the Civil Rights Movement died on Sept. 11, 2026.
Rev. Walter J. Dunson challenged segregation in Dayton. Dunson and others campaigned to outlaw racial discrimination and restore voting rights to African-Americans starting in the mid 1950s. The movement used boycotts, sit-ins, marches and other forms of non-violent activities.
He was president of the Congress of Racial Equality, and then helped organize and lead a local chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Council. He was president of the chapter for 18 years.
Dunson was the pastor of the Greater Mt. Nebo Missionary Baptist Church on Colgate Avenue in Dayton for 69 years. He founded the church with two other members.
It grew from a "a little wood framed shack on Birwood Avenue" into a small campus that includes the sanctuary, a library, nursery school, educational center and cultural center, according to a news release.
"Lovingly, he shared that greatness lies not in trying to be somebody but rather trying to help somebody," the news release says. "He believed that no one person can help everybody, but that everybody can help somebody."
Highlights of Dunson’s civil rights work were portrayed in the documentary “The Wallpaper Project: A Century of Voices from Ohio."
