R.I.P. Rev. Archibald Killian, Athens' First Black Police Officer

Editor’s Note: This article originally ran in Feb. 27, 2013 issue of Flagpole. We are reposting it in honor of Rev. Killian’s death Oct. 25 at the age of 83. When Archibald “A.R.” Killian was growing up in Athens, not only were African-Americans barred from eating in the same restaurants, drinking from the same water fountains or using the same restrooms as whites, they couldn’t even boycott the establishments that shunned them for fear of being jailed, or worse. All that changed—for Killian, at least—when he joined the Air Force in 1952 and became a military policeman. His service took him to France, Germany, Luxembourg and North Africa, pl…