Boyle, Sarah Patton

(May 9, 1906-Feb. 21, 1994). Outstanding Episcopal opponent to segregation in the era of the civil rights movement. She was born in Albemarle County, Virginia. In the late 1940s she became aware of the evils of segregation and racism. In the 1950s she worked to increase public awareness of segregation's harm to people of all races. She is best known for The Desegregated Heart, published in 1962. Her last book, The Desert Blooms: Creative Aging, published in 1983, also received critical acclaim. She was honored for her public efforts against segregation by a Martin Luther King Jr. Award in 1963. Boyle was a life-long Episcopalian. She died in Arlington, Virginia.