Payton I. Flournoy
(Image source: Jet 12 Feb. 1959: 5. Print)
Payton I. Flournoy of Palmyra, N.J. attended Muhlenberg briefly in the 1947-48 academic year.
He had graduated from Palmyra High School in 1942, where he had been the first black student to captain the football, track and wrestling teams. After graduation, he served in the Marines before arriving at Muhlenberg in the fall of 1947.
Flournoy was quarterback of the freshman Mules. From what we can determine, Flournoy seems to have transferred to New York University after one year at ‘Berg, and by 1950 he had joined the police force of his hometown of Palmyra.
In 1959, Flournoy was appointed police chief, the first black man to hold that position in Burlington County—and possibly in the nation. He was profiled in Jet shortly after his appointment and was featured in a national Viceroy cigarette campaign. Flournoy served as Chief until 1976 and passed away in 1991.
