James Alfred Smith, Sr. papers

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id: 2957
origination: Smith, J. Alfred (James Alfred)
date statement: 1942-1992, 1960-1992 [bulk 1980-1989]
key date: 1942
identifier (local_mss): 20932
org unit: Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division
call number: Sc MG 366
b-number: b18591173
total components: 362
total series: 0
max depth: 6
boost queries: (none)
component layout: Default Layout
Extended MARC Fields: false
Extended Navigation: false
created: 2013-04-01 15:04:37 UTC
updated: 2017-05-24 05:43:07 UTC
status note: (missing)
Display Aeon link: true

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unitid: {"value"=>"Sc MG 366", "type"=>"local_call"}

{"value"=>"20932", "type"=>"local_mss"}
unitdate: {"value"=>"1942-1992", "type"=>"inclusive", "normal"=>"1942/1992"}

{"value"=>"1980-1989", "type"=>"bulk", "normal"=>"1980/1989"}

{"value"=>"1960-1992", "type"=>"inclusive", "normal"=>"1960/1992"}
date_inclusive_start: 1942
date_inclusive_end: 1992
keydate: 1942
date_start: 1942
date_end: 1992
unittitle: {"value"=>"James Alfred Smith, Sr. papers"}
physdesc: {"format"=>"structured", "physdesc_components"=>[{"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"11.2 lin. ft. (28 archival boxes)"}], "supress_display"=>true}
repository: {"value"=>"The New York Public Library. Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division. <div class=\"address\"> Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture 515 Malcolm X Boulevard, New York, NY 10037-1801</div>"}
abstract: {"value"=>"The J. Alfred Smith, Sr. Papers primarily document Smith's roles as author, pastor of the Allen Baptist Temple Church (ATBC) and his activities with the Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc (PNBC) as well as other church organizations. Over half of the papers document Smith's career during the 1970s and '80s as pastor of ATBC and president of the PNBC. Smith's papers include very little documentation on his career and professional activities during the 1950s and '60s, his vice presidency and presidency of the Progressive State Baptist Convention of California and Nevada headquartered in Los Angeles, or his first and second vice presidencies of the PNBC."}
langmaterial: {"value"=>"Materials in English"}
prefercite: {"value"=>"James Alfred Smith, Sr. papers, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, The New York Public Library"}
origination: {"value"=>"Smith, J. Alfred (James Alfred)", "type"=>"persname"}
bioghist: {"value"=>"Chronology: <ul class=\"chronlist\"> <li class=\"chronitem\"> 1931James Alfred Smith born in Kansas City, Missouri to Amy Smith and Clyde Anderson</li> <li class=\"chronitem\"> 1948Graduated from R. T. Coles High School, Kansas City, Missouri; licensed to preach</li> <li class=\"chronitem\"> 1950Married Joanna Goodwin</li> <li class=\"chronitem\"> 1951-1952Served as student pastor at Mt. Washington Baptist Church, Parkville, Missouri</li> <li class=\"chronitem\"> 1952Received Bachelor of Science, Elementary Education, Western Baptist College, Kansas City</li> <li class=\"chronitem\"> 1951Ordained at Pilgrim Rest Baptist Church, Kansas City, where he had been a member since childhood and where he got married</li> <li class=\"chronitem\"> 1952-1955Principal of the Lincoln Elementary School, Keyesville, Missouri</li> <li class=\"chronitem\"> 1954-1958served as student pastor at Second Baptist Church, Huntsville, Missouri</li> <li class=\"chronitem\"> 1958-1960Served as student pastor and pastor at Second Baptist Church, Columbia, Missouri</li> <li class=\"chronitem\"> 1959Received Bachelor of Divinity, Missouri School of Religion, University of Missouri, Columbia</li> <li class=\"chronitem\"> 1960-1963Director of the Education Center at the American Baptist Convention Staff of Northern California, Oakland</li> <li class=\"chronitem\"> 1962Studied theology at the Pacific School of Religion, Berkeley, California</li> <li class=\"chronitem\"> 1963-1965Assistant to the President and Director of Development at Bishop College, Dallas, Texas</li> <li class=\"chronitem\"> 1965-1968Minister of Community Witness, American Baptist Convention Staff of Northern California, Oakland</li> <li class=\"chronitem\"> 1966Received Masters of Theology, Church and Community, Missouri School of Religion, University of Missouri, Columbia</li> <li class=\"chronitem\"> 1968-1970Area representatives of Ministers and Missionaries Benefit Board of the American Baptist Churches, U. S. A., Oakland, California</li> <li class=\"chronitem\"> 1969Received certification in Spanish Language and Culture, Inter-Cultural Center of Documentation, Cuernavaca, Mexico</li> <li class=\"chronitem\"> 1969-1971Lecturer, Laney College, Oakland, California Merritt College, Oakland, California Patton College, Oakland, California California Concordia College, Oakland, California</li> <li class=\"chronitem\"> 1970Pastor of Allen Temple Baptist Church, Oakland, California</li> <li class=\"chronitem\"> 1972Received Masters in American Church History, American Baptist Seminary of the West, Berkeley, California</li> <li class=\"chronitem\"> 1975Received Doctor of Ministry, Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary, Mill Valley, California</li> <li class=\"chronitem\"> 1975-1980Adjunct Professor of Parish Ministry, American Baptist Seminary of the West, Berkeley, California</li> <li class=\"chronitem\"> 1975-1976Adjunct Professor of Black Preaching, Golden Gate Theological Seminary, Mill Valley, California</li> <li class=\"chronitem\"> 1975-1976Acting Dean of the American Baptist Seminary of the West, Berkeley, California; remains a faculty member</li> <li class=\"chronitem\"> 1976-1983Professors of Religion, Patton College, Oakland, California.</li> <li class=\"chronitem\"> 1977-1979First Vice President, Progressive Baptist State Convention of California and Nevada.</li> <li class=\"chronitem\"> 1979-1981President, Progressive Baptist State Convention of California and Nevada.</li> <li class=\"chronitem\"> 1981-1982Presidents, Baptist Ministers Union of East Bay, Oakland, California.</li> <li class=\"chronitem\"> 1982-1984Second Vice President, Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc.</li> <li class=\"chronitem\"> 1983Visiting Professor of Church and Community, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky</li> <li class=\"chronitem\"> 1984-1985President, East Oakland United Clergy</li> <li class=\"chronitem\"> 1984-1986First Vice President, Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc.</li> <li class=\"chronitem\"> 1985J. Clyde Turner Visiting Professor of Preaching, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky</li> <li class=\"chronitem\"> 1986Completed Senior Executive Management Training program, Howard University</li> <li class=\"chronitem\"> 1986President, Baptist Pastors and Ministers' Conference of Oakland and East Bay</li> <li class=\"chronitem\"> 1986-1988President, Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc.</li> <li class=\"chronitem\"> 1992Professor of Christian Ministries, American Baptist Seminary of the West, Berkeley, California</li> <li class=\"chronitem\"> 1993Professor of Preaching and Christian Ministries, American Baptist Seminary of the West, Berkeley, California.</li></ul> The Rev. Dr. James Alfred Smith, Sr. was born May 19, 1931 in Kansas City, Missouri to Amy Smith and Clyde Anderson. He obtained his early education in Kansas City and graduated in 1948 from the R. T. Coles High School. That same year, he was licensed to preach, and in 1951 he was ordained at Pilgrim Rest Baptist Church in Kansas City where he had served as assistant pastor for three years. In 1950, Smith married Joanna Goodwin. From 1950 to 1960 Smith pastured to African-American churches in Missouri that were members of the National Baptist Convention, U. S. A. He also served for three years as principal of Lincoln Elementary School at Keyesville, Missouri (1952-1955). Over a period of twenty years, Smith attended several colleges and universities and earned four degrees; a Bachelor of Science in elementary education (1952), Bachelor of Divinity (1959), Masters of Theology in Church and Community (1966), Masters in American Church History (1972), and a Doctor of Ministry (1975). In 1970, he became pastor of Allen Temple Baptist Church (ATBC), an African American church in Oakland, California, where he has remained since. In addition, he pursued various courses of study which strengthened his position as pastor, such as a course in the Spanish language and Latino and Spanish literature and culture in Cuernavaca which he took as a result of an assignment to work with Latinos. This experience led him to develop sensitivity to Latinos, which served him well as pastor of ATBC where Latinos make up a significant segment of the congregation. Reverend Smith gained local recognition through his pastoral duties at ATBC and activities in the local community. He administered over twenty-five community and family-oriented programs and services at ATBC, the congregation of which multiplied from less than 1000 members in 1970 to over 4,000 in 1989. In addition, he was the founding president of the Bay Area Black United Fund in the 1970s, served on a variety of Oakland civic bodies and mayoral committees, and organized Bay Area community activities. He provided leadership in revitalizing the minority business community, reducing drug traffic, promoting youth employment, improving educational opportunities, extending civil rights, expanding health care, and generally enhancing communication across racial, social, and religious lines. He also fostered African-American awareness of the political, social and economic circumstances in Africa through his founding of the Black American Response to the Crisis (BARAC). The purpose of this organization was to raise consciousness and finances in the United States for African relief and development and to participate in addressing the broader and ongoing developmental challenges of Africa. While tending to his responsibilities as a father, minister and continuous seeker of knowledge, Smith found time in the 1960s through the 1980s to assume a variety of professional duties in Baptist organizations and colleges as well as teaching positions in colleges and seminaries in California and Kentucky. With over twenty-five years of ministerial experience behind him, Smith also assumed administrative posts in local and national Baptist organizations. In 1977 he served as First Vice President of the Progressive Baptist State Convention of California and Nevada and two years later became the organization's president through 1981. He then headed the Baptist Ministers Union of East Bay in Oakland, from 1981 to 1982, and was founding president of the East Oakland United Clergy from 1984 until 1985. From 1982 to 1986, Smith ascended the administrative echelons of the Progressive National Baptist Convention, from Second to First Vice President and, finally, President, which he held until 1988. Also in 1986, he became president of the Baptist Pastors and Ministers' Conference of Oakland and the East Bay. In conjunction with his ministerial tasks and administrative positions in local, regional and national religious bodies, Smith served on a number of boards of religious and secular professional organizations. Included among them are the boards of trustees of American Baptist Churches, U. S. A. Furthermore he has written approximately twenty books and several articles. Smith's numerous denominational speaking and preaching engagements in the United States and abroad before a wide range of religious bodies and institutions of higher education expanded his national and international visibility. His leadership and contributions have won him more than 75 awards, honors, and citations. Included among them is an honorary Doctor of Divinity from Western Baptist College in Kansas City, Missouri, an honorary Doctor of Laws from the Inter-Baptist Theological Center in Houston, Texas, an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from American Baptist Seminary of the West in Berkeley, California, and three awards named after him for outstanding community service. Allen Temple Baptist Church Allen Temple Baptist Church (ATBC) was founded in 1919 by Rev. J. L. Allen as a Northern Baptist mission to serve African Americans in a then predominantly Portuguese community in East Oakland, California. It originally began as a storefront with 21 members. ATBC is now the largest church in the San Francisco Bay Area with an ethnically diverse congregation of over 4,000. The church is a member of the Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc., an African-American denomination, and the American Baptist Churches, USA., a predominantly white denomination. Under Smith's leadership, it has played an important role in the surrounding community. When J. Alfred Smith came to ATBC in 1970, the congregation consisted primarily of individuals from Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Mississippi, and Alabama. They had migrated from Southern small towns and rural districts to California during and after World War II to work in the war industries. While the style of sermon delivery was Western, its content was Southern evangelistic with an emphasis on other worldly salvation. As the congregational demography shifted to encompass predominantly African Americans along with small populations of Anglo - Californians, Southwestern Latinos, Afro - Nicaraguans, Native Americans, and some East Asians, Smith included in his sermons strategies for Christian living in this world. Sensitive to the presence of a Latino segment in his congregation, he established a Spanish-speaking ministry. Those unable to attend the services benefit from his teachings by listening to the Sunday broadcast on KDIA, an Oakland radio station. At present the worshippers hail from far flung communities and as a group constitute one of the most highly educated congregations in the Bay Area. In economic terms, the church members are of low to moderate income. The congregation counts amongst its members Rep. Ron Dellums; Dr. Harry Edwards, the sports scholar; former Black Panther leader, Huey P. Newton, and several Oakland government officials. Smith calls his style of ministry \"survival theology\", addressing the physical concerns and spiritual needs of his parish. From his church, located in an economically depressed and drug trade area, he conducts spiritual life, family life, and community outreach ministries, overseas missions, and economic development programs. Among the many church-based ventures to service his community, Smith opened a job information center; waged a campaign to \"Hire a Member within the Church\"; raised money for scholarships; instituted Project Interface, a young adult tutorial program; opened a discount mini-mart for senior citizens; and built Allen Temple Arms I and II, a low-cost housing development for the elderly. Smith does not act alone in these ventures; he harnesses his parishioner's talents for the sake of community self-sufficiency. He also supported the Black Panther Party, the headquarters of which is now owned by ATBC, in its community efforts. ATBC serves as the model church in G. Willis Bennett's Guidelines for Effective Urban Church Ministry: Based on a Case Study of Allen Temple Baptist Church (Nashville, Tennessee: Broadman Press, 1983). Also, Smith's published Master's thesis, entitled, Thus Far By Faith: A Study of Historical Backgrounds and the First Fifty Years of the Allen Temple Baptist Church (Oakland, California: Color Art Press, 1972), ties the history of ATBC to the course of African-American struggle over the past two centuries. Progressive Baptist National Convention, Inc. The Progressive Baptist National Convention, Inc. (PNBC) was born as a result of a conflict within the Baptist denomination. During the Civil Rights era, the mainstream faction advocated quiet reform, whereas the progressives embraced the activist philosophy of Martin Luther King, Jr. With 33 members from 14 states forming the progressive camp, PNBC was founded in 1961 and was incorporated in 1963. Over 1000 churches with over one million members are currently members of PNBC. The PNBC is administered by an executive board composed of officers that are elected for two-year terms. PNBC duties and responsibilities are conducted by the president and vice-presidents from their home churches during their term of office, and a general secretary manages the PNBC and supervises the staff at the headquarters at the Nannie Helen Burroughs School property in Washington, D. C. The PNBC extends over four regions: southern, southwestern, mid-western, and eastern. Each region holds annual meetings and the PNBC as a body holds annual sessions. The PNBC is made up of auxiliaries and boards, among them are the Congress of Christian Education, the Women's Auxiliary, the Progressive Laymen and Church Ushers. Principal boards include the Board of Directors, the Baptist Foreign Mission Bureau, the Home Mission Board, the Publishing Board, and the Board of Education. The PNBC takes part in many denominational, church, and civic African-American organizations. In addition, the PNBC is committed to supporting historically black institutions of Christian education. During Rev. Smith's tenure as president of PNBC he opened a mission field in Sierra Leone, established the Young Adult Department as there had been a gap between the Youth and Senior Adult departments; conducted fundraising campaigns for black colleges and seminaries and for the World Council of Churches' Liberation of South Africa Fund; spearheaded the renovation of the PNBC's headquarters at the Nannie Burroughs School; and set up the Ministerial Information Office, a clearinghouse for churches seeking pastors and for recently graduated seminary and divinity school graduates seeking employment."}
scopecontent: {"value"=>"The J. Alfred Smith, Sr. Papers, 1942-1992, n. d. primarily document his roles as author, pastor of the Allen Baptist Temple Church (ATBC) and his activities with the Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc (PNBC) as well as other church organizations. The papers consist of five series: PERSONAL PAPERS, WRITINGS, ALLEN TEMPLE BAPTIST CHURCH, PROGRESSIVE NATIONAL BAPTIST CONVENTION, and GENERAL PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES. Over half of the papers document Smith's career during the 1970s and '80s as pastor of ATBC and president of the PNBC. Approximately one quarter of the papers document his published and unpublished writings. Smith's papers include very little documentation on his career and professional activities during the 1950s and '60s, his vice presidency and presidency of the Progressive State Baptist Convention of California and Nevada headquartered in Los Angeles, or his first and second vice presidencies of the PNBC."}
arrangement: {"value"=>"Papers consist of five series: I. Personal Papers; II. Writings; III. Allen Temple Baptist Church; IV. Progressive National Baptist Convention; and V. General Professional Activities"}
acqinfo: {"value"=>"Gift of J. Alfred Smith, Sr."}
processinfo: {"type"=>"processing", "value"=>"Processed by Amal Muhammed, June 1993"}
note: {"value"=>"Photographs transferred to Photographs and Prints Division"}

{"value"=>"Artifacts transferred to Art and Artifact Division"}

{"value"=>"Audiotapes and videotapes transferred to Moving Image and Recorded Sound Division"}

{"value"=>"Books and magazines transferred to General Research and Reference Division"}
extent_statement: 11.2 linear feet (28 archival boxes)
date_bulk_start: 1980
date_bulk_end: 1989

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James Alfred Smith, Sr. papers

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