Henlee Hulix Barnette and Helen Barnette Papers
Personal papers, course materials, research, and sermons of Henlee Hulix Barnette and his wife Helen. The bulk of the collection (1950s-1980s) captures Barnette's extensive research and publishing, his instruction on Christian Ethics, his conference and seminar participation, and his work at Southern Baptist Seminary. Barnette's materials reflect his interest in social change, civil rights, health and religion, and politics.
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Summary Information
- Repository
- Z. Smith Reynolds Library Special Collections and Archives
- Title
- Henlee Hulix Barnette and Helen Barnette Papers
- Date
- 1936-2002 (inclusive)
- 1950-1980 (bulk)
- Extent
- 48.5 Linear Feet / 84 letter boxes, 1 records center carton, 4 shoeboxes, 1 oversized letter box, 1 legal-sized letter box
- ID
- MS474
Biographical and Historical Note
Henlee Hulix Barnette was a 1940 graduate of Wake Forest College who became a professor, Baptist minister, and outspoken advocate for social change. A well-known progressive Baptist in 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 Louisville, Kentucky, living in and serving the people of the Haymarket neighborhood.
Henlee Hulix Barnette was born on August 14, 1911, in Taylorsville, N.C. He dropped out of school in the sixth grade, and in 1925, the Barnette family moved to Kannapolis, N.C., to find work in the mills. Henlee began working along with his father and older brothers. His mother ran the house and took care of the younger children, and also tried tirelessly to get Henlee and his father to come to church with her. Henlee and his father finally went to revival services in September 1931 and both became Christians.
Inspired and guided by his pastor, Wade Jones, Barnette returned to public school at the age of 22, graduating from high school at age 26. That fall, in 1936, he entered Wake Forest College. He graduated with honors (1940), and then went on to receive his Masters and PhD from Southern Baptist Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. He taught ethics and religion at Howard College, now Samford University (1946-1947), Stetson University (1947-1951), Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (1951-1977), and the University of Louisville School of Medicine (1977-1992).
Barnette was prolific in his life's work. He wrote more than 10 books centered on Christian ethics and biomedical ethics, and others on topis including a personal memoir and a book about Koinonia Farm founder Clarence Jordan. Like other socially active ministers during that period, he spoke out against racism, supported interracial activism and international cooperation, going so far as to meet with Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, marched for civil rights causes in Kentucky with Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and hosted King at SBTS for a lecture series. Barnette was upset by the conservative takeover of Baptist seminaries in the 1980s, including his former institution.
Barnette married Charlotte Ford in 1943 and together they had two sons, John and Wayne. Charlotte died in childbirth in 1953. Helen Louise Poarch Barnette married Barnette in 1956. She was born in Virginia on January 15, 1932, and as a student at the Southern Baptist Seminary in 1954, Helen met Barnette, a recent widower and her professor for her Christian Ethics class. Helen and Barnette had two children together, Jim and Martha. Helen Barnette died April 26, 1992. Barnette died on October 20, 2004.
Collection Overview
The Henlee Hulix Barnette and Helen Barnette Papers document the range of their interests and influence on Baptist ethics in the South and beyond during the twentieth century. The collection documents issues in the Baptist faith at the time as well as society as a whole.
Barnette's prolific writing, teaching, and speaking can be seen throughout all of the series. His passion for subjects including Christian Ethics, Civil Rights, psychiatry, war, and politics can be found in his research, sermons, teaching, and published materials. The correspondence series documents Barnette's work as a professor, his activism, his family and friendships, his speaking engagements, and other topics. Barnette's papers also include materials relating to Martin Luther King Jr.'s visit to Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, including a typescript detailing the visit, a copy of Barnette's thank you letter to King after the visit, and a note from King in response.
Helen Barnette's papers include her political and professional correspondence, files on religion, education, and Christian education, and other materials related to her interests and work.
Collection Arrangement
Arranged into sixteen series: Correspondence, Manuscripts, Helen Barnette, Published Books, Book Reviews and Published Papers, Unpublished Papers, Teaching, Sermons, Conferences, Seminars, and Workshops, Research, Publications, Wake Forest University, Personal, Bound Materials, Audio and Video, and Theses. Most series are arranged by title or topic and have accompanying scope and contents notes explaining coverage. Correspondence series is arranged alphabetically by year or year range. Some individual items within correspondence are identified.
Administrative Information
- Publication Information
- Processed by Vicki Johnson, Rebecca Petersen, Audra Eagle Yun, and Ashley Jefferson
- Revision Description
- Revised by Finley Turner, Nancy Sullivan and Stephanie Bennett, 2019 May, 2020
- Conditions Governing Use
- Copyright for materials resides with the creators of the items in question or their descendants, unless otherwise designated. Users of this collection are responsible for using the materials in conformance with U.S. copyright law.
- Conditions Governing Access
- The collection is open to researchers. Correspondence series has some restrictions based on content and correspondent.
- Preferred Citation
- Henlee Hulix Barnette and Helen Barnette Papers (MS474), Z. Smith Reynolds Library Special Collections and Archives, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC, USA.