Thesis (D. Min.)--Northern Baptist Theological Seminary, Lombard, Ill., 1999. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 57-58).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Miami University, Dept. of English, 2004. / Title from second page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 140-165).

"The literature on the religious lives of Black Americans is filled with undocumented and often ahistorical generalizations. The aim of this study is to develop a model for studying the role of churches and religion among blacks in particular localities during various periods of American history. The author is convinced that until similar local studies are conducted in a number of specific localities in different regions and time periods historically valid interpretations of the place of religion and churches in black life will not emerge. It is acknowledged that fully valid comparative statements will have to draw on studies of the religious situation among other American racial and cultural groups within the same regions and time periods"--Introduction. / Typescript. / "August, 1972." / "Submitted to the Graduate School of Florida State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts." / Advisor: Joe M. Richardson, Professor Directing Thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 84-96).

Thesis (D. Min.)--Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary, 2006. / Abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 125-128).

Thesis (D. Min.)--Ashland Theological Seminary, 2008. / Abstract . Description based on microfiche version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 124-127).

Thesis (D. Ed. Min.)--Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 82-84).

Thesis (D. Min.)--Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, Charlotte, NC, 2003. / Abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 131-135).

Thesis (D. Min.)--Dallas Theological Seminary, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 248-256).

What happens to a historically African American church when its local African American community no longer exists? Can attempts to emphasize its historic heritage help it to survive? In this dissertation, I consider the racial politics of urban gentrification and the ways in which one historic Black church community utilizes cultural heritage politics as a survival strategy and resistance to city planning in the city of Dallas, Texas. This case study is part of a much broader phenomenon dating to the post-WWII era whereby U.S. local, state, and federal government officials “redeveloped” urban neighborhoods as part of urban renewal plans. Some of these government actions resulted in drastic changes to neighborhood landscapes, displacing entire “minority” communities. Affected by similar circumstances, the St. Paul Church community chose to remain in its original neighborhood and restore its historic building, rather than bend to the will of Dallas city planners. In particular, I examine two church heritage projects; a public archaeology project in which a shotgun house site was excavated on the church property and a public history project which resulted in an interpretive history exhibition on the church. I examine how this church community became involved in these two projects and whether these approaches are practical to the historic preservation of this church community. Basic contributions of this work include: 1) filling gaps in public archaeology research by examining a public archaeology project, beyond the excavation, and critiquing its viability in jeopardized urban contexts, 2) analyzing strategies of political mobilization around heritage politics; 3) determining which Black communities are more likely to engage in and benefit from this type of political mobilization; and 4) problematizing what constitutes giving the power to a community to negotiate its past in the present. This dissertation project finds that although African-American and other minority groups are often politically and economically disadvantaged when challenging eminent domain abuse, these communities are not powerless. The St. Paul community’s utilization of heritage politics as a means to avert eminent domain abuse is one case in point. / text

The true nineteenth-century story of the Underground Railroad begins in the South and is spread North by free blacks, escaping southern slaves, and displaced, white, anti-slavery Protestant evangelicals. This study examines the role of free blacks, escaping slaves, and white Protestant evangelicals influenced by tenants of Kentucky’s Second Great Awakening who were inspired, directly or indirectly, to aid in African American community building. The impact of Kentucky’s Great Revival resulted in creation and expansion of systems of escape commonly referred to as the “Underground Railroad” which led to self-emancipation among enslaved African Americans, the establishment of free black settlements in the South, North, within Kentucky borderlands, and the Mid- West, and resulting in the eventual outbreak of a Civil War. An examination of slave narratives, escaping slave ads, the history of American religious societies, as well as examination of denominational doctrines, policies, public views, and actions regarding American slavery confirmed the impact of Kentucky’s 1797 Great Revival on freeing slaves, creating black church congregations, establishment of antislavery churches, and benevolent societies throughout Kentucky and the Mid-West. These newly formed churches and societies spread the gospel of black freedom beyond Kentucky into Western Territories particularly Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri. The spread of an evangelical religious message and the violent displacement of white and black antislavery advocates had the unintended consequence of aiding freedom seeking slaves in the formation of independent, black settlements and religious societies, not only in Kentucky but also in the North and West. This work acknowledges the central role Kentucky played in providing two of the three acknowledged and well-documented national Underground Railroad escape corridors which successfully ran through eastern Kentucky’s Appalachian Mountains and within the core of the state’s Western and Central Bluegrass Regions.