Brawley, Benjamin Griffith, 1882-1939

Professor of English and writer on African American literary and social history; faculty member at Howard University and Morehouse College; president of Alabama Baptist Normal and Theological School.

From the description of Benjamin Griffith Brawley papers, 1917-1936. (Moorland-Spingarn Resource Center). WorldCat record id: 741693799

• 1882, April 22: Born to Edward M. and Margaret Saphronia (Dickerson) Brawley, in Columbia, S.C.
• 1898 - 1901 : Attended Atlanta Baptist College (Morehouse College), Atlanta, GA. Received a B.S. degree.
• 1901: Taught in Georgetown, Florida.
• 1902: Served as Instructor of English, Morehouse College.
• 1906 - 1910 : Served as Professor of English, Morehouse College.
• 1906: Received an A.B. degree, University of Chicago, IL.
• 1908: Received an A.M. degree, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.
• 1910 - 1912 : Served as Professor of English, Howard University.
• 1912: Served as Dean of Morehouse College. Married Hilda Damaris Prowd, of Kingston, Jamaica.
• 1920: Journeyed to Liberia to do a study of the republic.
• 1921, June 2: Ordained as a Baptist minister in Boston, MA.
• 1923 - 1931 : Served as Professor of English at Shaw University, Raleigh, NC.
• 1931: Accepted a Professorship at Howard University.
• 1939 Feb. 1: Died in Washington, D.C.

• 1851, Mar. 18: Born to James M. and Ann L. Brawley (both parents free) in Columbia, S.C.
• 1870: Entered Howard University, as the first theology student.
• 1871 - 1875 : Attended Bucknell University, Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, (being the first black student) received a B.A. degree.
• 1871: Licensed to preach in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania.
• 1875: Ordained a Baptist minister. Commissioned by the American Baptist Publication Society to South Carolina as a missionary; organized the State Sunday School Convention.
• 1877: Married Mary Dorrick, of Lynchburg, VA. (died 1878).
• 1878: Received a M.A. degree, Bucknell University.
• 1879: Married Margaret S. Dickerson, of Columbia, S.C.
• 1883: Elected President of Alabama Baptist Normal and Theological School (Selma University).
• 1885: Received an honorary Doctor of Divinity, State University of Louisville, Kentucky.
• 1887: Began publication of the Baptist Tribune, a weekly newspaper.
• 1890: Accepted the call to pastorate the First Baptist Church of Petersburg, Virginia the oldest colored Baptist Church in the U.S.
• 1891: Elected President of the National Baptist Convention.
• 1923: Died in Raleigh, N.C.

From the guide to the Benjamin Griffith Brawley Collection, 1917-1936, (Moorland-Spingarn Research Center, Howard University)