Zeal for Zion

Zions Herald, U.S. Methodism's oldest weekly, was put to press in Boston last week by the youngest editor in its 121-year-old history. New Editor Emory Stevens Bucke, 30, plans to continue with vigor the Herald's battle for the underdog.

As a student at Washington's American University, Editor Bucke picketed the U.S. House restaurant because Negroes were barred from it. While a student at Boston University he disguised himself as a tramp, spent several days hobnobbing with panhandlers. One conclusion: "Many missions which supposedly were such great builders of Christian character were only rackets."

Zions Herald has always championed the Negro. As an Abolitionist publication it was largely responsible for the secession of Southern Methodism in 1844 (Southern Bishop James O. Andrew's wife owned slaves). It has consistently protested against Jim Crowism in Methodist Church policies.

To a concern for Negroes, Editor Bucke will add an equal concern for Jews. As a pastor of Hyde Park, Mass.'s Methodist Church (Hyde Park, nearby Dorchester and Mattapan have 60,000 Jews), he has worked hard in their Good Neighbor Association to promote racial and religious goodwill. His theory: "John Smith must meet Jacob Epstein and get to know him as a human being." He put his theory into practice by taking Protestant young people to a synagogue service. On his first day at the Herald, Editor Bucke had on his desk a huge bouquet from Mattapan's Orthodox Jewish Synagogue.

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