as he sought to energize the sit-in activism and push the limits of nonviolent dissent encouraged by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. “We pleaded not guilty,” wrote Mr. Gaither, who died Dec ...

The local news no longer covered them. Then, in 1961, a 22-year-old organizer, Thomas Gaither, introduced a new tactic. In the next sit-in, at the lunch counter of a McCrory’s dime store in Rock ...

Four others who were onboard the plane also died in the crash ... brought to the hotel where artists were gathered with Bill and Gloria Gaither to pray, sing and embrace them in their grief ...