Wendell Randolph Grigg, Sr. Papers
W.R. Grigg was a Baptist pastor and long-time leader in denominational race relations for Baptist State Conventions and the Southern Baptist Convention. This collection contains biographical information; correspondence; educational and professional files; literary productions (articles, book reviews, and sermons); articles, pamphlets, and speeches of others on segregation, race relations, and African-American Baptists, and racism; interviews; and photographs.
Biographical and Historical Note
Rev. Wendell Randolph Grigg, Sr. was born March 14, 1910, in Woburn or Mulberry Grove, Illinois. He attended Wofford College in S.C. and Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kentucky; he later received an honorary doctor of divinity degree from Shaw University in 1959 as well.
Grigg served as a Baptist minister in churches in Illinois, Georgia, and North Carolina. He then dedicated years of work in race relations for Baptist organizations, first working as the associate secretary and secretary of the Department of Interracial Cooperation for the Louisiana Baptist State Convention (1954-1957) and then Secretary of the Baptist Convention of North Carolina's Department of Interracial Cooperation (1957-1965). Following that role, Grigg worked for the Home Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention as associate secretary of the Department of Cooperative Ministries with National Baptists. He was well-respected for his work; Marse Grant, editor of NC's Biblical Recorder newspaper, called him a "one of the great pioneers in race relations."
He was married to Hattie Cornelia Causby and they had two daughters, Rebecca and Dorcas, and three sons, C. Irvin, Kenneth, and W. Randolph. Grigg died December 12, 1995, in Kernersville, N.C.
Sources:
- "North Carolina will miss pioneering racial healer." Greensboro News and Record. 1995 December 14.
- University and N.C. Baptist Biographical Files Collection (MS615), Z. Smith Reynolds Library Special Collections and Archives.
Collection Overview
His papers contain biographical information; correspondence; educational files; literary productions (articles, book reviews, and sermons); articles, pamphlets, and speeches of others on segregation, race relations, and African-American Baptists, and racism; interviews; photographs; and professional files.
Administrative Information
- Publication Information
- Processed by: John Woodard; machine-readable finding aid created by Apex, 2004
- Revision Description
- Revised by Finley Turner, 2019 October, 2023
- Access Restrictions
- This collection is open for use.
- Copyright Notice
- The nature of the WFU Z. Smith Reynolds Library Special Collections and Archives means that copyright or other information about restrictions may be difficult or even impossible to determine despite reasonable efforts. The Archives and Special Collections of ZSR Library claims only physical ownership of most materials. The materials from our collections are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to the U.S. Copyright Law. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source.
- Preferred Citation
- Wendell Randolph Grigg Papers (MS360), Z. Smith Reynolds Library Special Collections and Archives, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC, USA.