Spreading the Word has another collection for you!  His name was Hercules Wilson (April 13, 1883-February, 1978) a native of Darien, McIntosh County, Georgia and a prominent African American minister within the Presbyterian Church. Spanning the years from 1928-1971, the collection mostly consists of short handwritten sermons that express Rev. Wilson’s theology from the 1930s through 1970 – nearly 40 years of theological thought!  Additionally in the collection are correspondences between Wilson and classmates as well as Westminster Presbyterian Church financial records spanning between 1940’s to 1950’s.

Reverend  Wilson received his theological education from Biddle University (now known as Johnson C. Smith University/Seminary). This University was established by the Presbyterian Church North’s General Assembly’s Committee on Freedmen. The Presbyterian Church North established this committee in response to the educational and worship needs of freed slaves. These freedmen, denied equal worship in white Presbyterian churches, saw the need to establish their own places of worship. Biddle University was a response to that need and was founded for the expressed purpose of “training of colored preachers, catechists and teachers of their own race to lead those places of worship”.

At Biddle, Reverend Wilson earned the degree of Bachelor of Systematic Theology. His theological education is on display in sermons within the collection where he preaches on theological topics such as creation, revelation, salvation, sin, morality, Christian living and the nature of Jesus. The sermons eloquently relate these theological themes to the problems and issues of the time. During the production of these sermons, America was engaged in the conflict of World War II, experiencing the great depression and heightened racism and segregation. In a sermon from 1942 concerning love, mercy, and humility Rev.

Wilson calls for a practical Christianity to confront the “vital issues” of the time. In this sermon he is critical of the Presbyterian Church and the church in general, particularly for their silence on the issue of race. From the U.S. Senate’s act of filibustering a bill to eliminate the Poll tax (a bill affecting many Blacks in certain states) to the lynching of Black boys, Wilson rebukes the church for its silence. He challenges Church leaders to awaken from their silence and cautions against falling back on the authority of the church fathers of old. He informs that revelation did not end with the church fathers or the prophets and speaks against once and for all revelation.  Wilson’s claim is God’s will must be learned fresh and new in the present time. In this sermon and others, he fully displays his theological and hermeneutical skills.

The finding aid for the Hercules Wilson materials can be found here. This collection is great for the researcher interested in culture, hermeneutics, homiletics, history and theology. A study of the sermons within the collection gives valuable insight into the culture within a period of American and World history from the perspective of an African American Presbyterian minister. Just some of the reasons you should check out this and the 13 other collections that are a part of the Robert W. Woodruff Library Spreading the Word project!