Letter from Robert R. Toone to President George M. Modlin

Letter from Robert R. Toone to President George M. Modlin

Ashland Baptist Church

This was the first of two letters between Robert R. Toone, Chairman of the Board of Deacons at Ashland Baptist Church, and Dr. George M. Modlin, President of the University of Richmond. These letters referred to a "demonstration" in which a University of Richmond students held up a sign that stated, "King Cong Died for our Sins"; this was part of a mock protest by the pledges of Phi Delta Theta as an attempt to parody activists. In this letter, which was sent on February 26, 1968, Toone wrote that the sign was offensive to God and detrimental to the school's reputation, especially since the university was a Baptist college. However, Toone did not mention that the sign had a racist connotation, given its reference to "King Cong."

Robert R. Toone to Dr. George M. Modlin, February 26, 1968, George M. Modlin Papers, Virginia Baptist Historical Society.

February 26, 1968

Karissa Lim

Virginia Baptist Historical Society, George M. Modlin Papers