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Special Collections and Archives is pleased to announce that the first segment of the Henlee H. Barnette papers finding aid is now online! The correspondence series of the Barnette papers fills 27 boxes, and spans the years 1943-1996. It gives great insight to Dr. Barnette’s life while he was a student, father, minister, professor, and social activist. Some correspondents of note include Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Olin Binkley, John Claypool, John Howard Griffin, Elton Trueblood and Millard Fuller.

Henlee Hulix Barnette was a 1940 graduate of Wake Forest College who became a professor, Baptist minister, and outspoken advocate for social change. One of the most progressive Baptists of his time, Barnette worked to advance the civil rights movement, spoke out adamantly against the Vietnam war, and spent some of his early years of ministry in one of the most dangerous areas of inner-city Louisville, living in and serving the people of the Haymarket neighborhood.

Vicki and Rebecca will continue to process the other parts of the collection, and announcements will be made when new series have been added to the finding aid. This is such a rich collection of materials that researchers will find great insight and information in this first section of correspondence, as well as additional series that are to come.

See the finding aid here: Henlee Barnette Papers (MS 474)