Walter Naegle (born 1949) was the partner of the American Civil Rights leader Bayard Rustin and is executive director of the Bayard Rustin Fund, which commemorates Rustin's life, values, and legacy. Born in Morristown New Jersey, Naegle was raised in Succasunna, NJ, in a Roman Catholic home with six siblings. During high school in the 1960s, he became interested in the African-American struggle for civil rights and social justice, particularly with its commitment to nonviolence as the means to bring about democratic change. After attending the University of Bridgeport (CT) for one year, he left to join VISTA (Volunteers In Service To America), and worked for a year in the Hilliard Houses Senior Center (Chicago,IL) an agency of Hull House Association. As his interest in nonviolence and paci