Levi Maurice Terrill (b. 1899) was born in Moberly Missouri. He joined the Walnut Grove Baptist Church and remained a member there until he came to Atlanta, Georgia in 1922 to enter Morehouse College. He worked in the ministry throughout his career at Tremont Temple Baptist Church, Union Baptist Church, First Bryan Baptist Church, and lastly the Zion Hill Baptist Church in 1943. He remained at Zion Hill until his death, January 31, 1971. His activities aside from the active pastorate include serving as Vice President of the General Missionary Baptist Convention of Georgia. He was also the first Director of the Morehouse School of Religion for several years, and Professor at the Interdenominational Theological Center from 1953-1962. Jewell Evelyn Middlebrooks was born in Griffin, Georgia 1907. For forty two years she was a faithful pastors wife, the first lady of the Tremont Temple Church, Savannahs First Bryant Church and Atlantas Zion Hill Baptist Church.
James Herbert Touchstone (1889-1975), an educator, scholar, and scientist, Touchstone worked as a Professor of Chemistry, Greek, and Latin at Clark University. In addition to his teaching career at Clark University, he was a Professor of Chemistry and football coach at Rust College, Samuel Houston College, and Philander Smith College, where he also served as Academic Dean and Director of Summer School. Beyond his work as an educator, Touchstone was an active member of the Methodist Church. He served as a teacher, Trustee, Steward, Superintendent of Church School, and as Church Lay Leader. The images in this collection range from 1915-1979.
When Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in April of 1968, the Black theological students at Colgate Rochester Divinity School requested a program and professorship in Black Church Studies as a memorial to what King represented as a pastor and leader of the Black Church. After a forced close-down of the school by the Black students and a series of fundraising efforts, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Professorship in Black Church Studies was established. This position was filled by Henry H. Mitchell (clergyman, educator, author and at that time pastor of Calvary Baptist Church, Santa Monica, CA) on July 1, 1969 and the program of Black Church Studies at CRDS/BH/CTS was launched in September 1969. The Martin Luther King, Jr. Fellows project began as the result of an idea given to Dr. Mitchell for a research and writing project for the purpose of developing literature, curriculum, and bibliographical materials in the area of Black Church practice.
Anna E. Hall was born near Bainbridge, Georgia on March 1st, 1870. She lived a religiously oriented childhood with her mother, a seamstress, and expressed the desire to serve as a missionary while a student at Clark University (now Clark Atlanta University) in Atlanta, Georgia, where she completed the normal course on May 12, 1892. With the generosity of influential people who were made aware of her desire to be a missionary, she was able to enter the New England Deaconess Training School in Boston, Massachusetts in 1899 and graduated May 22, 1901 as the first African American to attend the school. Her missionary work was realized in December of 1906, when she travelled to Monrovia, Liberia to teach the Kroo (Kru) people. Her second year she was asked to go to the southern part of the Republic, Garraway, where she became the successor to the Director of the Julia A. Stewart Memorial Girls Home and School, Garraway Mission.
The David Roberts oral history collection was created by Roberts, an Atlanta University student, in the summer of 1973. The interviews were for a history seminar taught by Dr.Clarence Bacote (HIS 406: Introductory Graduate Course in United States History). Roberts interviewed members of Atlantas African American community who were born in the late 19th century. Most of the subjects were Georgia natives and a few were graduates of Atlanta University Center schools. He asked them to discuss their memories of various prominent African Americans and events, as well as living conditions for African Americans in the first half of the 20th century. He generally asked them the same questions and let them elaborate at will. He was especially interested in segregation and race relations, and asked about the way African Americans were treated in the justice system, hospitals, and in the workplace. He also asked about their memories of Atlanta specifically, including the riot of 1906, Ku Klux Klan visits, and Booker T. Washington High School, the first high school for African Americans in Atlanta.
The Methodist Episcopal Church South was an outgrowth of Methodism, but some African-Americans that were converted to Christianity by slave masters desired to have and control their own church. This desire led these formerly enslaved people to form The Colored Methodist Episcopal (CME) Church. It was later renamed the Christian Methodist Episcopal (CME) Church in 1956. The Atlanta-Rome District consists of 34 churches in Atlanta and surrounding areas, all within Georgia the Sixth Episcopal District. The Collection includes programs from worship services, funerals, events and church anniversaries; church histories; minutes from national and district annual conferences; and photographs. The photographs in this collection depict members of the congregation and various church groups at events and at home. The one recording in this collection is an interview with L. W. Jay, who discusses his history with the Atlanta-Rome District, along with various events and people he has worked with.
Documenting the Perspectives of Past HBCU Presidents: An Oral History Project provides reflections of former presidents of Historically Black Colleges and Universities, giving insight into their leadership philosophies, the challenges they faced, and the contributions they made. In roundtable discussions and individual interviews the presidents converse about issues of American higher education within the context of the HBCU experience and the unique educational value HBCUs provide. Discussion topics include qualities of leadership, mentors and role models, institutional mission, accreditation, governance, finance, fundraising, financial aid, entrepreneurship, and issues of gender, race, and national educational policies.
C. Eric Lincoln (June 23, 1924 - May 14, 2000) was born in Athens, Alabama. Despite the setbacks of manifest segregation and prejudices of the Jim Crow era, young Lincoln developed tenacity and a strong sense of self-expression at an early age. Since those earnest beginnings, Lincoln eventually earned five degrees, including a Bachelor of Divinity from the University of Chicago and a Doctor of Philosophy in Social Ethics from Boston University. An ordained minister, Dr. Lincoln is best known as a distinguished scholar, writer and lecturer on the Sociology of Black Religion, and Race and Ethnic Relations in the United States.
George Alexander Sewell (1910-1983) was a professor, pastor, and author. While a student at Morris Brown College, he became the co-founder and first editor of the Wolverine Observer, the official student newspaper. After graduating from Morris Brown College, Sewell worked as a principal and teacher in the Jackson County Public schools in Jackson County. Outside of his work as an educator, Sewell was a minister of the Eighth Episcopal District and pastored several churches. He was a member of the General Conference from 1956-1980 and chaired the Revisions Committee 1976 quadrenium. Sewell was elected to the General Conference Commission and served as the Secretary on the General Board of Education for the AME Church.
Dr. Vivian Wilson Henderson was the 18th president of Clark College from 1965 until his death in 1976. A native of Bristol, Tennessee, Henderson completed a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from North Carolina College in Durham in 1947. He earned his Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy degrees in Economics from the University of Iowa in 1949 and 1952, respectively. The Vivian Wilson Henderson Papers document Dr. Henderson's personal and professional activities spanning the years 1940 to 1976. The photographs in the collection date primarily from the 1960s and document Henderson's activities at Clark College as well as his family life. Photographs of Dr. Henderson's wife, Anna, and children are included.
