From 1919 to 1960, Reverend Dr. James Cannon III worked as an educator and administrator at Trinity College and Duke University, serving as Dean of the Divinity School from 1951 to 1958. He was born on November 30, 1892 in Farmville, Virginia to Bishop James Cannon, Jr., and Lura Bennett Cannon. He earned a bachelor's degree from Trinity College in 1914 and a master's degree at Princeton University in 1917. Cannon served in the military as a chaplain during World War I, for which he merited the French Croix de Guerre in 1919. Later that year, he returned to Trinity College to teach Biblical Literature and Missions. While he taught at Trinity, he continued his graduate studies at the Princeton Theological Seminary, earning his bachelor's and master's degrees in theology in 1925. When the Duke University Divinity School opened in 1926, Cannon became the Ivey Professor of the History of Religion and Missions, a position he held until his death on March 9, 1960.
In addition to his work at Duke University, Cannon actively participated in several religious and educational organizations and authored and edited a number of scholarly publications. In 1958, he was elected president of the Association of Methodist Theological Schools. Cannon also served as president of the Professors of Missions in Eastern Universities in 1941. He was secretary of the Duke chapter of Phi Beta Kappa and served on the Phi Beta Kappa National Senate in 1953. He wrote the History of Southern Methodist Missions (Cokesbury Press, 1926) and co-authored A Guide to the Study of the English Bible (Duke University Press, 1926). Cannon also edited periodicals such as Christian Advocate and The Muslim World .
From the guide to the James Cannon III Papers, ., 1912 - 1974, (University Archives, Duke University)
