MS539

Bill J. Leonard is the founding dean of the WFU School of Divinity, professor of church history, author of Baptist history writings, and ordained Baptist minister. This collection documents his personal and professional papers, sermons, and research materials for books and lectures. Materials date from his tenure at Southern Baptist Seminary, Samford University, and Wake Forest University. A major portion of the collection contains materials relevant to the controversy and split of the Southern Baptist Convention in the 1970s and 1980s. Correspondents include U.S. President Jimmy Carter, Walter Harrelson, James Dunn, Glenn Hinson, and other notable figures of the Southern Baptist Convention. There are also some audio recordings of his sermons as well as lectures by such notable theologians as Jurgen Moltmann.

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Summary Information

Repository
Z. Smith Reynolds Library Special Collections and Archives
Title
Bill Leonard papers
Date
1979-2010
Extent
15.0 linear feet / 28 document boxes, 8 cassette tape cases
ID
MS539

Biographical and Historical Note

Bill J. Leonard was the founding dean of the Wake Forest University School of Divinity. After his retirement from this position in 2010, he remained on the faculty roster as a Professor of Church History and in 2011 was named the James and Marilyn Dunn Professor of Baptist Studies. He was educated at Texas Wesleyan University (BA); 
Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (MDiv); Boston University (PhD); 
and Franklin College (DD)

Bill J. Leonard holds appointments in both the Wake Forest University Divinity School and the Department of Religion. From May, 1996 until June, 2010 he served as founding dean of the Wake Forest University School of Divinity. From 1975-1992 he was Professor of Church History at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky. He then served as chair of the department of religion and philosophy, Samford University, Birmingham, Alabama, from 1992-1996. A Baptist minister and native Texan, Leonard served as interim pastor of over 25 congregations in Kentucky, Indiana, Connecticut, Alabama and North Carolina. During the 1988-1989 school year, he was visiting professor at the Seinan Gakuin University in Fukuoka, Japan. In 1980-81 he was a visiting scholar at Yale Divinity School.

Recognized for his work in American, Southern and Baptist religious studies, Leonard is the author or editor of some seventeen books including The Nature of the Church (Broadman Press, 1986); Becoming Christian: Dimensions of Spiritual Formation (Westminster/John Knox, 1990); God’s Last and Only Hope: The Fragmentation of the Southern Baptist Convention (Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1990), Christianity in Appalachia: Profiles in Regional Pluralism (University of Tennessee Press, 1999 ); Baptist Ways: A History ( Judson Press, 2003); Baptists in America (Columbia University Press, 2005); and The Challenge of Being Baptist (Baylor University Press, 2010). He has published over 400 articles in such journals and periodicals at Church History; Christian Century; Review and Expositor; Religion and American Culture; The Baptist Times (London); Hebrew Studies; Perspectives on Religious Studies; and The Journal of Religion, Disability and Health.

Leonard has received or participated in grants from groups or foundations such as Lilly Endowment Inc., Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning in Theology and Religion, the Henry Luce Foundation, the Jesse Ball DuPont Fund, and the Louisville Institute. Leonard is a frequent commentator on American religion in periodicals such as the New York Times, the Christian Science Monitor; Christianity Today; the Boston Globe and the Charlotte Observer. He is married to Candyce Crew Leonard, a professor of communication at Wake Forest. With their daughter, Stephanie, they are members of First Baptist Church, Highland Avenue, the oldest African American Baptist congregation in Winston-Salem.

Collection Arrangement

The materials are arranged primarily as the creator arranged them. Some items, however, were located in several boxes so the processor incorporated them into the creator's arrangement. Later arrangement attempted to reduce the number of series and subseries in the collection.

Administrative Information

Publication Information
Finding aid prepared by Processed by Cynthia Good, 2011
Access
The collection is primarily open, though certain files may be closed. 
Copyright
Copyright for materials resides with the creators of the items in question or their descendents, unless otherwise designated. Users of this collection are responsible for using the materials in conformance with U.S. Copyright laws. 
Custodial History
The materials were donated by Dean Bill J. Leonard in the fall of 2010 and processed in the fall of 2011. MS539. 
Preferred Citation
Bill J. Leonard Papers (MS 539), Z. Smith Reynolds Library Special Colelctions and Archives, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC, USA. 

Collection Inventory

  • Biographical materials
  • Correspondence (1979-2007)
    • Correspondence, 2001, May - Sept. Box 9 Folder 1
  • Research materials
  • Personalities
  • Professional papers
    • Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
    • Samford University
    • WFU Divinity School
      • WFUDS. Sermons and Addresses by Faculty Box 13 Folder 11
  • Publications and mixed media
  • Southern Baptist Convention materials
    • Peace Committee
    • Women in the SBC
    • Southern Baptist Convention Controversy
    • Baptist Alliance, etc.
  • Southern Baptist Theological Seminary materials
  • Southern Baptists materials
  • Speeches and writings
    • Publications by Leonard
      • Articles by B.J. Leonard (folder 1) Box 10 Folder 6
      • Articles by B. J. Leonard (folder 2) Box 10 Folder 7
      • Articles by B.J. Leonard (folder 3) Box 10 Folder 8
      • Catholics and Baptists, no date. Leonard, B. J. Box 10 Folder 13
      • Religion in America Box 10 Folder 15
      • Religion in a New Millennium, no dates. Leonard, B.J. Box 10 Folder 16
      • Baptists in the South Box 10 Folder 17
    • Sermons
      • Sermons, Various. Leonard, B. J. Box 11 Folder 4
    • Lectures and other speaking engagements
  • Speeches and writings, various authors
    • Lectures Box 16 Folder 3
    • Fundamentalism in Religion
      • Fundamentalism/Televangelism -- three student papers Box 16 Folder 11
  • Southeastern and Southwestern baptist seminary materials Box 25 Folder 6