World Christian Student Federation

The World Christian Student Federation appears in the account as the organizer that invited Howard Thurman to lead a 1935 African American delegation on a pilgrimage of friendship to India, Burma, and Sri Lanka. Its documented role joined international student-Christian contacts to an encounter in which religious exchange, race, and the history of slavery came sharply together.

The 1935 Invitation

The federation asked Thurman to chair the delegation, which consisted of Thurman and his wife, together with another African American minister, Rev. Edward Carroll, and Carroll’s wife, Phenola. They were guests of the Student Christian Movements in the countries they visited. The invitation thus placed Thurman in a representative role: he traveled not alone, but as the leader of a small delegation whose purpose was framed as friendship.

Visas and the Journey

Securing visas from Great Britain proved difficult. A British government representative objected to allowing four African Americans to travel through the country and give speeches, citing the complications this might create for British rule. The visas were eventually issued, and the delegation proceeded with its journey. The episode shows that the pilgrimage’s stated aim of friendship unfolded amid colonial restrictions on movement and public speech.

Religious Exchange and Racial History

In Sri Lanka, after Thurman delivered a lecture at the Law College, the college principal invited him to his office for coffee and asked why he had undertaken the trip. Their conversation turned to the history of slavery and the contradiction between Christian identity and the enslavement of Thurman’s ancestors. The principal also pointed to segregation, lynching, and racial violence in the United States, including segregation within churches, and challenged Thurman to explain his Christian commitment. The exchange lasted more than five hours.

The book presents the pilgrimage as more than a program of travel: it became a setting for serious theological questioning and for Thurman’s further spiritual growth. The account does not describe the federation’s internal structure or broader activities, but it records a consequential instance of its work in bringing an African American delegation into international religious conversation.