J. Milton Waldron

{{Short description|American clergyman and civil rights leader (1863–1931)}}

John Milton Waldron (May 19, 1863 – November 20, 1931) was a clergyman and civil rights leader in the United States.{{Cite web|url=https://oxfordaasc.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195301731.001.0001/acref-9780195301731-e-35979|title=Waldron, J. Milton|website=Oxford African American Studies Center|year=2013|doi=10.1093/acref/9780195301731.013.35979|isbn=978-0-19-530173-1|last1=Yellin|first1=Eric S.}} He led the NAACP's Washington D.C. branch.{{citation needed|date=November 2021}}

He was born in Lynchburg, Virginia. He studied at Richmond Institute (now Virginia Union University) and then Lincoln University in Pennsylvania, graduating in 1886.

He led Bethel Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Florida from 1892 to 1907.{{Cite web|url=https://guides.fscj.edu/c.php?g=452592&p=6427044|title=LibGuides: History of Jacksonville, FL: Bethel Baptist Church|first=Jennifer|last=Grey|website=guides.fscj.edu}}{{Cite web | url=https://nfew.claytonmccarl.domains.unf.edu/files/original/a33dc4629805083cdc5c130cdcca87af.jpg | format=JPG | title=Colored Pastor Here 22 Years Succumbs | date=1931-11-20 | access-date=2024-06-21}} He was also pastor of Shiloh Baptist Church in Washington D.C.{{Cite web|url=https://unfdhi.org/earthawhite/items/show/73|title=Obituary of Reverend J. Milton Waldron. Nov. 20, 1931 · Editing the Eartha M. M. White Collection|website=unfdhi.org}}

In 1910 he joined other ministers in a letter to U.S. president William Taft calling for action after the Slocum massacre.{{Cite web|url=https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/ministers-taft-slocum-massacre/|title=Aug. 13, 1910: Ministers Appeal to President Taft After Slocum Massacre|website=Zinn Education Project}} Eugene V. Debs wrote a public letter to him about the 1912 presidential election.{{Cite web | url=https://www.marxists.org/archive/debs/works/1908/080627-debs-towaldron.pdf | title=No Negro Question Outside the Class Question: An Open Letter to J. Milton Waldron, President of the National Negro American Political League | date=1908-06-30 | access-date=2024-06-21 | website=www.marxists.org | first=Eugene V. | last=Debs}} He and J D Harkless wrote about the political situation in 1912.{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/48455104|title=The political situation in a nut-shell: some un-colored truths for colored voters|first1=J. Milton|last1=Waldron|first2=J. D|last2=Harkless|date=September 11, 1912|publisher=National Independent Political League|oclc=48455104|via=Open WorldCat}}

Waldron married Martha Matthews in 1890. Together, Waldron and his wife had five children: George, Florence, James, Ella, and Blanch.{{Cite web|url=https://digital.janeaddams.ramapo.edu/items/show/2603|title=Waldron, John Milton (1863-1931) · Jane Addams Digital Edition|website=digital.janeaddams.ramapo.edu}}