In honor of Black History Month, the A.R. Wentz Library and Seminary Archives would like to highlight African American history here at the Seminary. This post features African American students who fought to create a place of diversity, equality, and inclusion at LTSG, paving the way for future students of color. The research for this post was compiled from Seminary Archives records that are on display on the first floor of the A.R. Wentz Library. The exhibit will be up through March.
The Seminary was founded in 1826 and after only nine years of operation, Daniel Alexander Payne
became the first African American student to attend Gettysburg Seminary, graduating in 1835. Payne went on to become a pastor, educator, and bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. He was also elected as president of Wilberforce University in Ohio in 1863, becoming the first African American to lead an institution of higher education in the United States.
Daniel Alexander Payne
Although the seminary had its first African American student in 1835, they
didn’t have their second until the 1960s. America was undergoing a turbulent time engulfed with protests, riots, and assassinations, all in the name of civil rights. Times were changing and many Americans began fighting for equality in all areas of life, especially the school system.
Rudolph Featherstone graduated in 1960 and was hired by the Seminary in 1977 to head a new initiative called the
Black/White Studies Program. This program was funded through a grant from the
Lilly Endowment, Inc. for the 1976-77 school year.
Read the grant application
and objectives by clicking the link below.
A Program For Black Theological Education in the Lutheran Church of America
This program, split between the Philadelphia and Gettysburg
campuses, was created to equip both black and white seminarians for leadership
roles in the church as well as to teach inclusion for all races in their congregations.
Read more information about the Black/White Studies Program and Rev.
Featherstone by clicking the link below.
"Black White Studies Begins"
The Black/White Studies program was funded by the Council
for Lutheran Theological Education in the Northeast and the Lilly Endowment for
three years. After the program was complete, the mission was transferred to the
Black Concerns Program and was funded by each of the seminaries separately. Read
more about the Black Concerns Program by clicking the link below.
Black Concerns Program Proposal
Many students and faculty voiced their concerns for civil
rights in
Table
Talk, a student-run publication.
"White Perspectives on a Black Conference" by Rogger Digges
"Black Concerns Proposal Accepted" by Ken Regan
In one 1970
Table Talk article, a white student wrote about their experience
attending a class at Morgan State College, where the professor and most of the students in the
class were black. The student recognized the different perspectives in the classroom and the importance of embracing diversity as future church leaders.
This article can be read by clicking the link below.
"Studying in a Black Class" by Myron Schevy
Also featured in
Table Talk is
an article
highlighting LTSG student participation in the 1980s Anti-Apartheid protests and staged arrests, involving fourteen students. Student Debbie Conrad shares her story, which can be read by clicking the link below.
"Protesting Apartheid" by Debbie Conrad
1985 issue of Table Talk with the headline "Protesting Apartheid."
Lastly, “An Urgent Message from
LHS” asks students to call or write to their representatives regarding bills
that concerned the affairs of South Africa and Apartheid. Their plea can be read by clicking the link below.
"Urgent Message from LHS" by Roy J. Enquist
To see these documents in person please stop by the first floor of the A.R. Wentz library to view the exhibit.
Sources Cited
Strobert, Nelson T. Daniel Alexander Payne: The Venerable Preceptor of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Lanham: University Press of American, 2012.
Written by intern Meriah Swope, graduate student at Shippensburg University.
To learn more about Black History at LTSG, please contact Assistant Archivist Sheila Joy by email at
sjoy@ltsg.edu or by phone at 717-339-1317.
