The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

19th century to early 20th century (1835–1950) Basil Manly Sr. first issued a call for a new seminary for Baptists in the south in 1835. Over the next two decades, he was the driving force in a movement to establish the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. In 1856, South Carolina Baptists gathered together and met in Greenville, South Carolina with James P. Boyce to discuss the need to finance a seminary. In that meeting, Southern Baptists agreed to pledge $100,000 in the establishment of a theological school. In 1857, Boyce convinced members of the convention in Louisville, Kentucky , to approve a motion to establish The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. In the fall of 1859, Southern began its first academic year with 26 students. The seminary continued to grow until it temporarily closed from 1861 to 1865 due to American Civil War . After the war, the seminary had to recover at a different location. The Board of Trustees along with Boyce decided the new location would be the seminary's current location of Louisville. [ 6 ] Southern in 1891 In 1889, John A. Broadus became the seminary's second president. Attendance and enrollment continued to grow and the Master of Divinity (M.Div.) and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) began to be offered as graduate degrees starting in the early 1890s. [ 7 ] After Broadus, William Whitsitt became the third President of Southern in 1895. [ 8 ] After a difficult tenure along with controversy dealing with Landmarkism amongst Baptists during that period, Whitsitt was succeeded by E.Y. Mullins (Boyce's College main dormitory is named after him) as president. Under Mullins, the seminary reached an endowment of an estimated 1.8 million dollars. It was during the early 1900s when women were beginning to be admitted to the classes. [ 9 ]

In the wake of the Civil War , the seminary suspended classes for several years. [ 14 ] With the financial help of several wealthy Baptists , including John D. Rockefeller and a group of Kentucky business leaders who promised to underwrite the construction of a new campus, [ 15 ] [ 16 ] the seminary relocated to Fifth Street and Broadway in downtown Louisville, Kentucky , in 1877. In 1926, during the administration of Southern president Edgar Y. Mullins , the seminary occupied " The Beeches ", a 100-acre (0.40 km 2 ) suburban campus east of the city center [ 17 ] designed by the Frederick Law Olmsted firm. The campus now contains 10 academic and residential buildings in Georgian architecture and three housing villages for married students.

Main article: Civil rights movement In 1951, President Duke Kimbrough McCall integrated the campus, in defiance of Kentucky state laws that established segregation at public facilities. At the height of the Civil Rights Movement , Southern would become the only SBC agency to host a visit by Baptist minister and civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. (1961). [ 18 ] During King's address at SBTS, he mentioned he had been to the seminary's chapel several times in the past when accompanying his mother since King's mother was an organist for the Women's Auxiliary of the National Baptist Convention . [ 19 ] Martin Luther King Jr. preached in Southern Seminary chapel in 1961. King met with professors (from left to right) Henlee Barnette, Nolan Howington and Allen Graves. As a result, many donors withheld their gifts to Southern, and some demanded McCall's resignation for letting King speak in the seminary chapel. [ 20 ] In 2018, a report was released about its connections to slavery. Controversy regarding this subject was circulated and interracial ministers coalition requested The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary to financially support nearby black colleges as a result. Despite the request, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary denied the request. As a response to the request, President R. Albert Mohler Jr. and board Chair F.Matthew Schmucker released the following statement: “We agree with the policy of the Southern Baptist Convention in this regard, and we do not believe that financial reparations are the appropriate response,” There are claims stating that the founders owned more than 50 slaves. [ 21 ]

In 1938, Southern was among the first group of seminaries and divinity schools accredited by the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada . [ 22 ] Thirty years later, in 1968, Southern was one of the first seminaries to be accredited by its regional accrediting body, Southern Association of Colleges and Schools . [ 23 ] Throughout its history, Southern has been an innovator in theological education, establishing one of the first Ph.D. programs in religion (1892), the first department of Christian missions (1902), the first curriculum in religious education (1925), and the first accredited, seminary-based social work program (1984). In 1953, President McCall and the trustees reorganized the institution along the lines of a small university. The curriculum was distributed among three graduate-professional schools—Theology, headed by Dean Penrose St. Amant; Religious Education, led by Dean Gaines S. Dobbins; and Church Music, under Dean Forrest Heeren. In 1984, Anne Davis became founding dean of the Carver School of Church Social Work, which launched the first seminary-based Master of Social Work program to be accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (1987). The school was disbanded in 1997 by a subsequent seminary administration. [ 24 ] It decided that secular social work was inappropriate for a seminary, and replaced the program with a school for training evangelists, missionaries and church-growth specialists. In 1968, Southern helped establish Kentuckiana Metroversity , a local consortium of two seminaries, two state universities, a community college and two private colleges. They offer a joint library catalog, cross-registration of any student in any member institution, and faculty and cultural exchanges.