Harris Wofford, a lifelong civil rights advocate who represented Pennsylvania in the U.S. Senate, has died at the age of 92, writes Brian Naylor for NPR.

Wofford’s son, Daniel Wofford, is a former politician and Malvern resident.

Harris died Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which is perhaps appropriate since he marched alongside the civil rights leader in Selma, Ala. He also played a key role in the presidential election in 1960 by encouraging John F. Kennedy to reach out to Coretta Scott King, after her husband’s arrest for a minor traffic violation in Georgia.

After arriving in the Senate in 1991, Wofford worked with Rep. John Lewis to mark King’s birthday with a national holiday and day of service.

Prior to becoming a Senator, Wofford was Pennsylvania’s secretary of labor and industry. After his tenure in the Senate, he became CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service, the parent organization of AmeriCorps.

John Gomperts, Wofford’s legislative director in the Senate and chief of staff at the Corporation for National and Community Service, summed up Wofford’s life by saying it “was one giant adventure.”

Read more about Harris Wofford from NPR here.

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