Show Us How You Do It: Marshall Keeble and the Rise of Black
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Show Us How You Do It RELIGION AND AMERICAN CULTURE Series Editors David Edwin Harrell Jr. Wayne Flynt Edith L. Blumhofer Show Us How You Do It Marshall Keeble and the Rise of Black Churches of Christ in the United States, 1914–1968 EDWARD J. ROBINSON THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA PRESS Tuscaloosa Copyright © 2008 The University of Alabama Press Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35487-0380 All rights reserved Manufactured in the United States of America Typeface: AGaramond ∞ The paper on which this book is printed meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences- Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Ma- terials, ANSI Z39.48-1984. Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data Robinson, Edward J., 1967– Show us how you do it : Marshall Keeble and the rise of Black Churches of Christ in the United States, 1914–1968 / Edward J. Robinson. p. cm. — (Religion and American culture) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-8173-1612-9 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-8173-8060-1 (electronic) 1. Keeble, Marshall, 1878–1968. 2. Churches of Christ— Biography. 3. Churches of Christ— History. 4. African Americans— Religion. I. Title. BX7077.Z8K45 2008 286.6092—dc22 [B] 2007038382 For “my three little girls”—Clarice, Ashley, and Erika— spiritual descendents of Marshall Keeble Contents Acknowledgments ix Introduction 1 PART I: THE MAKING OF A BLACK EVANGELIST 1. “I Had Rather Rely on God’s Plan Than Man’s”: Marshall Keeble and the Missionary Society Controversy 11 2. “The Greatest Missionary in the Church To- day”: The Philanthropy of A. M. Burton 22 3. An Old Negro in the New South: The Heart and Soul of Marshall Keeble 31 PART II: THE GOSPEL ADVOCATE AND THE THEOLOGICAL FORMATION OF AFRICAN AMERICAN CHURCHES OF CHRIST 4. “It Does My Soul Good When I Read the Gospel Advocate”: Marshall Keeble and the Power of the Press 47 5. “The Bible Is Right!”: The Theology and Strategy of Marshall Keeble 56 PART III: THE PARADOX OF WHITE RACISM AND WHITE PHILANTHROPY IN CHURCHES OF CHRIST 6. “The White Churches Sponsored All of This Work”: Marshall Keeble and Race Relations in Churches of Christ 73 7. Stirring up the South: Marshall Keeble and Black Denominations in the South 99 viii / contents 8. The Great Triumvirate: Marshall Keeble, A. L. Cassius, R. N. Hogan, and the Rise of African American Churches of Christ beyond the South 120 PART IV: THE LEGACY OF MARSHALL KEEBLE 9. Marshall Keeble’s Sons 137 10. Marshall Keeble’s Grandsons 155 Epilogue: The Church Marshall Keeble Made 173 Appendix I: A Chronology of Marshall Keeble 179 Appendix II: Churches Marshall Keeble Established in the South 181 Appendix III: Preachers Who Attended the Nashville Christian Institute 183 Notes 185 Bibliography 227 Index 235 Photographs follow p. 114 Acknowledgments I am indebted to William E. Parrish of Mississippi State University for kin- dling my interest in the work of Marshall Keeble almost a decade ago, al- though the press of other projects and responsibilities for some time had lim- ited me to chipping away at this massive and important subject. However a generous Lilly Endowment Grant through the Louisville Institute released me from a year of teaching responsibilities at Abilene Christian University (ACU), Abilene, Texas. Fred Bailey, Colleen Durrington, Glenn Pember- ton, Jack Reese, Dwayne Van Rheenen, David Wray, and a host of other col- leagues at ACU supported me during the research and writing process. The library staff at ACU has been especially diligent and supportive of my work on this project. John L. Robinson, a highly esteemed colleague at ACU, gave the manuscript a thorough reading and helped me produce a polished manuscript. Many other people encouraged me, including Carisse Berry- hill, Douglas A. Foster, Ruth Hailey, David Edwin Harrell Jr., Don Haymes, John Mark Hicks, Richard T. Hughes, Rick Hunter, Harry Kellam, Jim Lewis, Don Meredith, Waydell Nixon, Tom Olbricht, Toni Robinson, Floyd Rose, Richard Rose, Debbie Self, Tracy Shilcutt, Jennifer Siler, Jerry Taylor, Patsie Lovell Trowbridge, Mark Tucker, John Vaught, and D. Newell Wil- liams. A few black congregations gave me permission to publish photographs in this book, including those of Andrew J. Hairston, minister of the Simp- son Street Church of Christ, Atlanta, Georgia. Special thanks to the staff at the Disciples of Christ Historical Society in Nashville, Tennessee, for their help and support. x / acknowledgments I assume full responsibility for the material in this book. I hope that this work will stir further study and interest in this remarkable evangelist and his understudied religious group. Show Us How You Do It Introduction Marshall Keeble came preaching and churches sprang up all over the South. G. P. Bowser came preaching and Southwestern Christian Col- lege sprang up. That walking- Bible, R. N. Hogan, came preaching and churches sprang up in Texas, Oklahoma, and California. —Eugene Lawton, Fasten Your Seatbelts, Turbulence May Be Ahead The renowned black preacher Eugene Lawton succinctly captured the im- pact and import of three of the preeminent evangelists in the history of Af- rican American Churches of Christ— Marshall Keeble, George P. Bowser, and R. N. Hogan— when he spoke of their preaching and church build- ing.1 Lawton acknowledges that Keeble, more than any other person, drove the emergence of black Churches of Christ across the South. While such men as Bowser and Hogan contributed signifi cantly to the rise of black Churches of Christ in the northern and western parts of the United States, neither matched Marshall Keeble’s impressive work in the South and be- yond. Almost like some divine magician, Keeble seemed to speak black con- gregations into existence. A careful examination of his singular career re- veals what made him the most successful evangelist in the history of African American Churches of Christ, the complex ways in which he accomplished this, and how white Christians played roles in the origins and expansion of black Churches of Christ. Beyond these matters, such a study uncovers the contributions of Keeble’s converts— his “sons”—in the stabilization of Af- rican American congregations in the South. Finally, it reveals to what de- gree altruism or racism supplied the impetus for the rise of black Churches of Christ in the southern states. At one point during the throes of the Great Depression, white leaders in Churches of Christ gathered in southern California to celebrate and ques- tion Marshall Keeble. During a three- week evangelistic effort in Los An- geles, California, several white ministers, enthralled with Keeble’s ability to transform people’s lives, arranged this meeting at the Central Church of 2 / introduction Christ with the black clergyman from Tennessee and begged him to reveal the secrets to his extraordinary success as an evangelist. The crowd of mostly white preachers implored: “‘Show us how you do it,’ like the magician is called on to do sometimes by a few on the ‘inside’ of the ring.” The inquirers assured Keeble that they did not wish to “steal his power”; they only wanted “to know just how he does it.” In the minds of the white leaders, Keeble seemed almost a godly wizard with mysterious powers and abilities to mes- merize and sway his listeners to obey what he called the “pure gospel.”2 According to E. N. Glenn, a white leader who attended the gathering, Keeble happily listed seven reasons for his achievement as an evangelist. First, he said his devoted wife, Minnie, was at the “bottom of his preach- ing career.” Next, his father- in- law, Samuel W. Womack, had encouraged him and taught him the “gospel plan of salvation.” Keeble then developed a “burning desire to preach the Word” full time. Fourth, white leaders S. H. Hall, F. B. Srygley, and N. B. Hardeman encouraged him; Keeble especially singled out A. M. Burton, who “recognized his ability and helped along in a fi nancial way.” In order to gain the support of white benefactors, however, Keeble assiduously “kept his place,” scrupulously complying with the New South’s Jim Crow mores, circumspectly working “never to bring reproach upon the Cause by his conduct,” trying always “to keep himself good and humble.” He realized the “importance of ‘staying in place’” while in those parts of the nation “where the racial feelings were quite prominent.”3 Keeble also attributed his power to “secret prayer.” Before meeting with the white preachers at the Central congregation, Keeble had been “‘on his knees’ four times in secret prayer.” Additionally, Keeble seasoned his ser- mons with “spice”—wit, humor, and keen logic— which endeared him to both white and black Americans. “The white folks hear him just as gladly, and usually there are as many or more in the audience than his own race. No wonder that his many hundreds of converts have been led to the Lamb of God by the power of the Gospel in the hands of this man!”4 Keeble’s comments not only opened the eyes of the California gather- ing, but they also provide insight for students of his life today. He attrib- uted his preaching success to a supportive spouse, skillful tutelage, personal zeal, white philanthropy, a mild disposition, constant prayer, and homileti- cal skill. Of these, this study contends that three held chief importance in his remarkable ministerial accomplishments. Keeble’s “meek” posture on the introduction / 3 race question, coupled with his dynamic preaching, attracted the attention and support of white philanthropists whose fi nancial generosity, even if vi- tiated by racism, enabled the rise of black Churches of Christ in the South and beyond. White benefactors fi nanced Keeble’s preaching campaigns not only to save souls but also to keep blacks out of their churches.