Taylor, Gardner Calvin
1918-2015 · Contribution: 1961
Baptist minister; 'dean of American preaching'
Co-founded the Progressive National Baptist Convention in 1961 after a contested National Baptist Convention presidential election tied to support for Martin Luther King Jr.'s civil rights tactics
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Quick facts
- Born
- 1918, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
- Active since
- 1948
- Category
- Religious & Spiritual Leadership
- Best known for
- Co-founding the Progressive National Baptist Convention
Impact on the world
Taylor gave the civil rights movement a denominational home and set the standard for American preaching, mentoring generations of ministers across racial lines.
An alternative history
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Sources
- Source lookupFind
Stanford Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute
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Related visionaries
King, Martin Luther Jr.
1929-1968
Baptist ministry and nonviolent civil rights leadership grounded in Christian theology and Gandhian nonviolence; sermons, speeches, and writings including 'Letter from Birmingham Jail' (1963) and the 'I Have a Dream' speech (1963)
Morris, Elias Camp
1855-1922
First president of the National Baptist Convention, today the largest historically Black Christian denomination in the United States
Bryan, Andrew
1737-1812
Founded and pastored First African Baptist Church in Savannah, Georgia, for 24 years, building it from an initial 67 members in 1788 into a congregation of nearly 2,800 by 1831 despite enduring imprisonment and public whipping for preaching to enslaved people
Shuttlesworth, Frederick Lee
1922-2011
Co-founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference with Martin Luther King Jr. in 1957 and led the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights, organizing the 1963 Birmingham Campaign that Dr. King credited as decisive in securing passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, while surviving multiple assassination attempts including the 1956 bombing of his church parsonage