James Russell Robinson, 98, formerly of Manhattan, died on September 20,2016 at River Glen Health Care Center in Southbury, Connecticut, where he had lived since 2013. Jimmy was born on February 1, 1918 in Rochester, NY, and
grew up in nearby Wyoming, NY. He became interested in civil rights early, when exposed to the treatment of Native Americans, and later came to idolize Mohandas Gandhi for his belief in nonviolent protest, which also aligned with Jimmy's Roman Catholic faith. Jimmy began college at Fordham, but transferred to Columbia University, graduating in 1939 with a BA in English, which he followed in 1942 with a Master's in English from the University of Chicago. He became a pacifist and a civil rights activist, and was one of the founders of CORE, the Congress of Racial Equality, in Chicago in 1942. Jimmy was a Conscientious Objector during World War II, during which time he protested segregation in the conscientious objector camps. He taught English at Talladega College for a brief time, and ran the New York office of CORE. Jimmy participated in many nonviolent protests, once serving 10 days in a Florida jail after participating in a protest to integrate a 'colored' beach. Later, Jimmy worked at the American Committee on Africa, and for many years as a fundraiser at the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund in New York. His last job brought him full circle when he worked for a Native American rights organization. In addition to his family, he loved martinis, the Metropolitan Opera, Rockaway Beach, the novels of Sigrid Undset, his dogs, travel, and New York City. He is survived by his wife of 56 years, Barbara Pilley Robinson, also a resident at River Glen, his son, James Edward Robinson, his wife Karen and their children, Richard James ('R.J.') and Isabel Marie, all of Woodbury, CT, and by his daughter Harriet Robinson Gowanlock and her husband William Bryant Gowanlock of Madison, CT, and their daughters, Sarah Winifred Gowanlock of Brooklyn, NY, and Grace Genevieve Gowanlock, a student at The George Washington University in the District of Columbia.

Cemetery: Cemetery Not Applicable

Location: Munson-Lovetere Woodbury

Funeral: St. Teresa's Church

Services: The funeral mass will take place on Saturday, September 24 at 11: 00 AM at St. Teresa of Avila Church, 146 Main Street South, Woodbury, CT

Visitation: Calling hours will be Friday, September 23 from 4: 30 to 7: 00 PM at Munson- Lovetere Funeral Home, 2 School Street, Woodbury, CT.