Reverend Doctor Richard Battles Jr.

Richard A. Battles Jr. (1928-1980) was the second minister of Mount Olive Baptist Church in Hartford from 1960 until his death at the age of 52 in 1980. He was from Little Rock, Arkansas, and studied law at Arkansas Baptist College before pursuing a theology degree at Union Theological Seminary in New York City. He served as pastor of Star Bethlehem Baptist Church in Beacon, NY, before moving to Hartford to assume the pastorship of Mount Olive Baptist Church.

Battles was an active civil rights leader: he was the Regional Director of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and served as a special assistant to the president of that organization, Dr. Ralph C. Abernathy; helped found Hartford's chapter of the Congress of Racial Equality; and organized 90 volunteers to travel to Alabama to march from Selma to the state capitol in Mongomery. In Hartford, under his leadership, the Mount Olive Baptist Church applied for and received money from the Federal Housing Authority to build two moderate-income housing complexes on Nelson Street and Martin Street in the north end.

Battles and his wife, Betty Everett, had two children, Richard I. Battles and Robin A. Battles.

Reverend Battles died on June 23, 1980. In his honor, Suffield Street was renamed to Battles Street by the City of Hartford.