William Holmes Borders

Who was William Holmes Borders?

Rev. William Holmes Borders, Sr. was a civil rights activist and leader and pastor of Wheat Street Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia from 1937-1988.

Borders' influence in the black community was the trigger for a local radio station to offer him a weekly program in 1940. Listeners of both races tuned in to hear information about segregation, disfranchisement, patriotism, and black migration to the north. The program became the second-highest-rated broadcast in Atlanta.

During bus desegregation in Atlanta, Borders sat in the front of a bus and was arrested. He formed the Wheat Street Credit Union to provide low interest loans to blacks. Three times in the 60s and 70s, Borders ran for the Georgia House of Representatives but failed.

Borders Sr. was the father of William Holmes Border, Jr., and the grandfather of Lisa Borders, member of the Atlanta City Council and one time candidate for mayor of Atlanta in the 2009 election.