Bob W. Brown Papers
Abstract
Descriptive Summary
- Title
- Bob W. Brown Papers
- Date
- 1953-2003 (inclusive)
- 1953-1980 (bulk)
- Creator
- Brown, Bob W.
- Extent
- 13.05 Cubic Feet
- Subjects
- Baptists -- Kentucky -- Lexington.
- Church work with people with mental disabilities
- Clergy -- Correspondence.
- Civil rights -- Kentucky -- Lexington.
- Education -- Kentucky.
- Church and state -- United States.
- People with disabilities.
- Religion and Politics -- Kentucky
- Arrangement
- Collection is arranged by format.
- Preferred Citation
- 2012ms375: [identification of item], Bob W. Brown papers, 1953-2003, bulk 1953-1980, University of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center.
- Repository
- University of Kentucky
Collection Overview
- Biography / History
- Bob W. Brown (1930-1980) was born in Burlington, Kentucky. He graduated from Burlington High School in 1948, Georgetown College with a B.A. in 1952, and the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary with a B.D. in 1956. He served as minister at Visalia Baptist Church in Covington, Ky. (1948-1955), Pleasant Grove Baptist Church in Louisville, Ky. (1955-1958), and Trinity Baptist Church in Lexington, Ky. (1958-1980). He served as chairman for crusades for Billy Graham and Grady Wilson as well as led over 150 revivals. An activist minister, he led special ministries for the blind, mentally disabled, alcoholics, and single parents.
- Additionally, he hosted a 30-60 second daily show on WKYT-TV and pubished articles in over a 100 magazine. His published books include It's Been One of Those Day's Lord (1971); How Can We Get Lily Rose to Settle Down (1975); The Church is People (1976); and Getting Married Again: A Christian Guide to Successful Remarriage (1979).
- While Brown served as its minister, Trinity Church voted to integrate its congregation in 1960 and became one of the first racially integrated churches in the Southern Baptist Convention. In 1969, Trinity Church was burned by suspected arsonists opposed to the racial integration of the church.
- Brown was a believer in the separation of church and state, supported state funded education and state oversight of religious schools, and actively promoted ministering to the mentally disabled. Brown served as a part of many organizations beyond his ministry including the Kentucky Baptist Convention, the Kentucky Cancer Commission, Planned Parenthood, the Kentucky State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (member and chairman), and the Bluegrass Association for Retarded Children.
- Brown married Helen White on July 8, 1952; they had two children, Jeffrey (b. 1956) and Amy (b. 1963). Brown died on August 4, 1980, after suffering a heart attack while giving a speech at the annual meeting of the Kentucky Association of School Administrators.
- Scope and Content
- The Bob W. Brown papers (dated 1953-2003, bulk 1953-1980; 13.05 cubic feet; 25 boxes, 1 oversize box) comprises correspondence, manuscripts of Brown's writings, church publications, newspaper clippings, notes, and class papers, which document Brown's ministerial, activist, and educational activities. The papers include personal, ministerial, and publishing correspondence; manuscripts and published versions of Brown's books, articles, and radio/TV sermons; church bulletins, newsletters, and announcements; and Brown's seminary class notes, papers, and assignments. Topics often addressed in Brown's writings include separation of church and state, state oversight of religious schools, family, race and civil rights, divorce and marriage, and ministering to the mentally disabled. People and organizations represented in the collection include Henry A. Buchanan, Kentucky Cancer Commission and Hospice Committee, the Kentucky State Board of Education, and the White House Conference of Families. Churches represented in the collection include Visalia Baptist Church (Covington, Ky.), Pleasantville Baptist Church (Louisville, Ky.), Trinity Baptist Church (Lexington, Ky.). Items of note include carbon copies of Brown's letters written following Trinity Church's vote to admit a deaf African-American as a congregation member in 1961 (box 26, folder 4).
- Much of Brown's material created before 1970, shows significant fire and heat damage due to the fire that burned Trinity Baptist Church in 1969. Some of these items are fragile and should be treated with care.
Restrictions on Access and Use
- Conditions Governing Access
- Collection is open to researchers by appointment. Some of items are fragile due to fire and heat damage. Access to these items may be restricted due to preservation concerns.
- Use Restrictions
- The physical rights to the materials in this collection are held by the University of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center.
Contents of the Collection
Biographical, 1969-2003, undated
Biographical sketch, undated
Books owned, undated
"Dear Reverend", 1969 March 3
Ephemera, undated
Kentucky Civil Rights Hall of Fame, 2003 July 29
Trips to the holy land, 1978-1980
Mrs. Bob Brown, "I'm a Pastor's Wife", undated
"The Moral Side", undated
Plaques, undated
"The Huddle", undated
Class work, 1953-1956, undated
Notebooks from seminary, 1953-1956
Church history 71 course notes and paper, undated
RE 402 class notes and paper, undated
Psychology of Religion 151 notebook (School of Theology), 1954 April
Unknown course binder, undated
Correspondence, 1958-1980, undated
Publishers, 1969-1980
Baker Book House, 1970
Broadman, 1974-1977
Doubleday, 1974-1977
Harper amp&; Row, 1969-1974
Home Life, 1974
Impact Books, 1974-1977
Judson Press, 1973-1974
Kleister advertizing service, 1970
National Enquirers, 1974-1975
Miscellaneous, undated
Submissions to publishers- schedules, undated
Thomas Nelson, 1974-1977
The Upper Room, 1969-1974
The Word, 1970-1980
Zondervan, 1969-1977
Correspondence arranged by correspondent, 1972-1979
Correspondence arranged chronologically, 1958-1979, undated
1958-1959
1960
1961
1962 January-June
1962 July-December
1963 January-June
1963 July-December
1964 January-June
1964 July-December
1965 January-June
1965 July-December
1966 January-June
1966 July-December
1967 January-June
1967 July-December
1968 January-June
1968 July-December
1969 January-June
1969 July-December
1970
1971 January-June
1971 July-December
1972 January-June
1972 July-December
1973 January-June
1973 July-December
1975 July-December
1976 July-December
1977 July-December
1978 January-June
1978 July-December
1979 January-June
1979 July-December
Undated or Unfiled
Churches and institutions, 1955-1980, undated
Trinity Baptist (Lexington, Ky.), 1963-1975, undated
Announcements and assorted, 1964-1975, undated
List of committee- teachers, 1975
1964
1965
1966
1967
1968
1969
1970
1971
1972
1973
1974
1975
Undated
Bulletins, 1963-1979
Institutional memoranda, 1973, undated
Newsletters, containing It's on my Heart columns, 1966-1976
Before 1966
1966
1967
1968
1969
1970
1971
1972
1973
1974
1975-1976
Visalia Baptist (Covington, Ky.) - bulletins, 1950-1958
Pleasant Grove Baptist (Louisville, Ky.), 1955-1958
Miscellaneous church bulletins, 1954, undated
Non-church, 1975-1980
Bicentennial celebration, 1975
Kentucky Cancer Commission, 1978-1980
Hospice Committee, 1979
Kentucky State Board of Education/Department of Education, 1978-1980
National Association of State Boads of Education, 1979-1980
White House Conference on Families, 1980
Writings and speeches, 1961-1983, undated
Book-length, 1975-1979, undated
The Church is People, circa 1976
Divorce, undated
Getting Married Again: A Christian Guide to Successful Remarriage, circa 1979
How Can we Get Lily Rose to..., 1975
Its Been One of Those Days, Lord, 1971
It Occurs to Me, compilation of vignettes, circa 1978-1980
Musings, 1979-1980
What Makes a Church, undated
Buchanan collaborations, 1964-1970
"A Wisp of Smoke", 1966 September-December
"Birth Control is not Sinful", undated
"The Scandal", 1966 October
"The Shroud and the Cloth", undated
"The Suicide", 1966
"The Executioner", 1966 September 26
"Conviction", 1966
"Dear Congressman", undated
"How Did I Get Into This?", 1969-1970
"Lady of the Manse", 1969 December-1970 February
"A Many Sided Triangle", 1966 September-December
"A Perplexing Case", 1966
"Please Call Me Reverend", 1968
Clippings, 1966-1983
Preacher's Prayers, 1969-1977, undated
1969 January-June
1969 July-December
1970
1971 January-June
1971 July-December
1972 January-June
1972 July-December
Correspondence, 1972 January-December
1973 January-June
1973 July-December
1974 January-June
1974 July-December
1975 January-June
1975 July-December
1976 January-June
1976 July-December
1977 January-June
1977 January-June
Assorted, undated
A Preacher's Prayer manuscripts, 1969-1977
Published, 1961-1977
The Baptist Program, 1961-1970
Church Administration, 1969-1969
Christianity Today, 1964-1967
The Christian Ministry (1973) and The Christian Mother (1969), 1969-1973
Christian Life, 1966-1970
Church Administration, 1969-1976
Coronet, 1966-1972
Church and Home, 1967-1968
The Church Herald, 1968 March-1976 August
Ebony, 1966 June
Eternity, 1966-1972
Home Life, 1967-1974
Home Missions, 1966 September-1976 May
Liberty, 1966-1974
Light and Life Evangel, 1970-1971, undated
The Link, 1971-1974
Miscellaneous, 1964-1974
Moody Monthly, 1966-1973
The Saturday Evening Post, 1964 November 14
The Sunday School Builder, 1967 March-1969 January
These Times, 1966 November-1975 May
Time, 1969, 1977
United Evangelical Action, 1967 August-1968 January
Western Recorder, 1962 November-1972 April
Your Church, 1976-1977
Radio/TV, 1968-1979, undated
Radio scripts, 1968-1975
Radio Minute sermons, 1968-1969
Radio/TV manuscripts, undated
Short pieces and articles, 1961-1976, undated
"Advertising and the Gospel", 1973
"After Twenty Years of Marriage", 1972-1973
"Aged and Blind", 1973-1975
"And Some Are Blind", 1970-1972
"Around the Church", undated
"The Blind", undated
"Brady Bunch", 1973
"A Bus Pastor Program", undated
"Can You Trust Your Child With Someone Else?", 1970
"Choosing a Church", 1971-1973
"The Church and the Divorcee", 1969-1975
"The Church and the Mass Media", 1972-1974
"The Church and the Mentally Retarded ", undated
"The Church Bell Isn't Ringing", 1969
"Church Growth", undated
"The Church is for Everyone", undated
"Conserving and Training New Member", 1973
"The Crusades", undated
"The Death of a Child", 1972-1975
"Divorce", undated
"Do You Expect Too Much of Marriage", 1969-1970
"Doctors Can Improve Their P.R.", 1974-1975
"Don't Destroy Your Husband's Ego", 1969
"Dying in Moab", undated
"An Evangelism Program", 1967
"The Executioner", 1972-1974
"A Family Fourth of July", 1971
"A Family Isn't a Democracy", 1970-1971
"Fearful Disciples", 1971
"Our Firey Trial", undated
"Fried Chicken for Breakfast", 1961
"The Cap Between the Pulpit and the Pew", 1972-1975
"George the Tramp", 1971-1975
Greeting cards, 1971
"Handling Guilt", 1974-1975
"Happiness is...", 1974-1975
"Hospitality, A Christian Virtue", 1966
"How Pastors and Deacons Can Work Together", 1970
"How to Keep Your Husband Happy", 1972-1975
"How to Recruit New Members", 1974-1976
"I Protest Protestant Schools", 1974-1976
"I Stayed in the Ministry", 1967-1971
"If Churches Were Taxed", 1972
"I'm a Child of the Church", 1973
I'm a Pastor's Wife by B.W. Brown, 1970-1972
"I'm not a Racist", 1969-1970
"In the Line of Duty", undated
"Inside a Billy Graham Crusade", 1971-1972
"Junus Has a Gift", 1966-1973
"Laying on Hands-Mystery or Symbol", 1970
"Leaning from the Fire", undated
"Let Your Heart Speak", 1966
"Lonely, Call 259-0101", 1974
"The Long Term Pastor", 1970
"Love Divine--All Loves Excelling", 1964
Manuscript submitted to Brown, author unknown, undated
"Marrying the Formerly Married", undated
"The Minister and the Divorced", 1969-1973
"The Minister Talks to a Bridal Couple", 1968
"The Minister's Role in Your Marriage", 1972-1975
"My Baby Just Cried", 1966-1968
"My Dad was a Simple Man", 1968-1973
"My Monument", 1970-1973
"Myths About Marriage", 1970-1976
"Not Much to Remember", undated
"Our Firey Trial ", undated
"Obsenity is an Absurdity", 1973-1976
"Our Friends in the Church", 1966-1969
"A Parents Alone Club", 1972
"The Pastor in the Isolation Booth", 1970
"A Pastor Should Know These People", undated
"A Pastors Night Life", 1975
"Please Tax the Churches", 1970-1972
"Politics and the Preacher", undated
"A Preacher Looks at Billy Graham", 1975
"Preachers can be Heroic", 1967
"The Private Funeral--A Cop Out", 1973-1975
"Recipe for a Happy Marriage", undated
"Religion Can Ruin a Marriage", 1969-1970
"The Retarded", undated
"Retarded Children and Bible School", 1967
"Retarded Children are People", undated
"Retarded Children and the Church", 1965-1971
"Retarded Children-God's Child", undated
"The Right to Live", 1971
"Sex and the Bible", 1972-1975
"Some Challenges to Public Education", 1974-1976
"Some Complians About Doctors", 1974-1975
"Soup, Soap, and Salvation", undated
"Southern Baptists are Hung Up", 1970
"A Southern Minister and Interracial Romances", 1968-1970
"The Spiritual Ordeal of the Unwed...", 1969-1970
"The Store", undated
"The Survivors of a Suicide", 1974-1976
"Suspending Pupils", 1975-1976
"Taken in Adultery", 1972-1974
"Teaching Retarded Children", 1965-1966
"Telling the Story", 1967-1969
"Those Special People", undated
"The Three Crosses", 1971-1973
"Til Death Parts Us", 1975
"Tony the Unwed Mother", 1972-1975
"The Town", undated
"Understanding the Clergyman", 1973-1976
Unidentified manuscripts, undated
"Up Tight----Unwind", 1972-1973
"The Values of the Traditional Funeral", 1972-1976
"The Waiting Time Between Buildings", undated
"The War Between Sex and Religion", 1970
"Watchers View of Gatlinburg", 1968-1972
"What Young Husbands Complain About", 1968-1969
"What Young Wives Complain About", 1970-1971
"What's Going On?", undated
"What's Right with America", undated
"When the Church Goes to Court", 1973
"Who Are Our Enemies", 1969-1971
"Who Cares Anyway?", undated
"Who Speaks for the Handicapped? The Poor?", 1969-1971
"Who Will Cry for Edward?", 1971-1972
"Whose Little Boy Are You?", 1966-1969
"Why Albert?", 1972
"With This Ring", by Mark Penn, circa 1967
"A Witnessing Community", 1966
"You Can Drive Your Husband Away", 1972-1973
"You Can Help the Bereaved", 1972-1973
"You Can't Make Them Play or Preach", 1968-1969
"Your Minister Wants to Know", 1972-1975
"Your Pastor Would Appreciate", 1968-1969
"Your Son--A Minister"
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UK Libraries Special Collections Research Center is open Monday to Friday, 9:00am to 4:00pm. Appointments are encouraged but not required. Schedule an appointment here.
Researchers must have an SCRC Researcher Account to request materials. View account set-up and use instructions here.
Questions? Contact SCRC via our Contact Form.
Requests
No items have been requested.
You may come across language in UK Libraries Special Collections Research Center collections and online resources that you find harmful or offensive. SCRC collects materials from different cultures and time periods to preserve and make available the historical record. These materials document the time period when they were created and the view of their creator. As a result, some may demonstrate racist and offensive views that do not reflect the values of UK Libraries.
If you find description with problematic language that you think SCRC should review, please contact us at SCRC@uky.edu.