Anne Moody History Project Cited in Paper by Dr. Francoise N. Hamlin

By Roscoe Barnes III, PhD
Chairman, Anne Moody History Project
Copyright (c) 2020

#AnneMoody
#ComingOfAgeinMississippi

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Our work on civil rights pioneer Anne Moody is having an impact on communities, churches, prisons, public schools, and universities. The Anne Moody History Project (AMHP) has served as a valuable resource for students, independent scholars, filmmakers, writers, and prominent historians.

A few days ago, I learned of our contribution being recognized in an essay by Dr. Francoise N. Hamlin of Brown University. Hamlin's work is titled, "Historians and Ethics: Finding Anne Moody." The abstract can be viewed here or by following this link:
https://academic.oup.com/ahr/article-abstract/125/2/487/5817111

The essay is published in The American Historical Review.

As AMHP chairman, I can say we are thankful to Hamlin for including us in her research. She mentions the Anne Moody page on this blog, Roscoe Reporting, and a note about the creation of the Anne Moody History Project. It is our hope and our aim that more and more scholars will recognize Moody's legacy and help tell the current -- and future generations -- about her story. Together we can keep her legacy alive.

#ComingOfAgeinMississippi #CivilRights #Mississippi #BlackHistory

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Want to know more about Anne Moody?

Visit here to see the timeline of

important events in her life history!

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For more information: 
See the Anne Moody page here.
Questions about the Anne Moody History Project may be directed to Roscoe Barnes III Ph.D. via email at doctorbarnes3@gmail.com or roscoebarnes3@yahoo.com For updates on Anne Moody history and the on-going work of this community service project, simply follow this blog or follow AMHP on Twitter (@AnneMoodyHP). #ComingOfAgeinMississippi

Dr. Leigh Ann Wheeler Receives Funding for Research on Anne Moody’s Biography

She notes the contribution of the Anne Moody History Project

By Roscoe Barnes III, PhD

Chairman, Anne Moody History Project

Copyright © 2020

#AnneMoody

#ComingOfAgeinMississippi

Dr. Leigh Ann Wheeler
Anne Moody Biographer

Dr. Leigh Ann Wheeler’s work on Anne Moody is featured in a 2019 article published by Binghamton University. The article is titled, “Fellowship Helps Historian Tell the Life Story of Civil Rights Activist: Professor Leigh Ann Wheeler is writing biography of Anne Moody.” See it here.

Wheeler’s book on Moody will be the first biography ever written about the civil rights pioneer who penned Coming of Age in Mississippi (1968). It will undoubtedly be groundbreaking. Among other things, it will cover her life beyond the 1960s. It will also unveil the cast of characters in Coming of Age and delve into Moody’s mental struggles and other challenges.

Moody died in 2015 at the age of 74. She had been suffering from dementia.

Wheeler received a $60,000 award in 2019 through the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Public Scholar Fellowship. The funding will allow her to take time off from teaching as she travels and conducts her research. So far, she has made several trips to Moody’s hometown of Centreville, Mississippi, which is located in Wilkinson County in southwest Mississippi.

As the chairman of the Anne Moody History Project (AMHP), I can say we’re happy to have played a role in Wheeler’s research. We’re also pleased to be mentioned in this fine article. The article notes our work as follows:

There was little information online in the late 1990s and early 2000s about Moody, who kept a low profile after releasing a collection of short stories called “Mr. Death: Four Stories” in 1975. Two years after Moody’s 2015 death, Wheeler discovered a website run by Roscoe Barnes III, a chaplain at a correctional facility in Wilkinson County, Miss., where Moody grew up and lived her later years. Barnes, who had established the Anne Moody History Project, put Wheeler in touch with members of the Moody family, including several who still live in Wilkinson County, located in southwest Mississippi on the Louisiana border.

We are happy that Moody is finally getting the recognition that she deserves. We are grateful to Wheeler and other scholars/historians who are helping to tell her story. We wish them much success as we continue in our mission to keep her legacy alive.

#CivilRights #BlackHistory #WomensHistory #Mississippi #TougalooCollege #HBCU

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Want to know more about Anne Moody?

Visit here to see the timeline of

important events in her life history!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For more information: 
See the Anne Moody page here.
Questions about the Anne Moody History Project may be directed to Roscoe Barnes III Ph.D. via email at doctorbarnes3@gmail.com or roscoebarnes3@yahoo.com For updates on Anne Moody history and the on-going work of this community service project, simply follow this blog or follow AMHP on Twitter (@AnneMoodyHP). #ComingOfAgeinMississippi

Articles on F.F. Bosworth and Gordon Lindsay Now Published in Brill’s Encyclopedia of Global Pentecostalism

By Roscoe Barnes III, PhD
Author, F.F. Bosworth: The Man Behind "Christ the Healer"
Copyright (c) 2020

#FFBosworth

#GordonLindsay
#BosworthMatters

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I’m happy to report my two articles for the Brill’s Encyclopedia of Global Pentecostalism are now published online. The print edition of BEGP will be available at a later date. I wrote about F.F. Bosworth and Gordon Lindsay. The articles present an overview of their life history. I am truly grateful to Dr. Michael Wilkinson, BEGP editor, who gave me this opportunity.

Wilkinson has noted the BEGP publication “provides a comprehensive overview of worldwide Pentecostalism from a range of disciplinary perspectives. It offers analysis at the level of specific countries and regions, historical figures, movements and organizations, and particular topics and themes.” Wilkinson was assisted by Editors Connie Au, Jorg Haustein and Todd M. Johnson.

#ChurchHistory #BEGP #ChristTheHealer #BosworthMention #AssembliesOfGod #Pentecostal

Visit here or follow this link:

https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/search?s.f.s2_parent=s.f.book.brill-s-encyclopedia-of-global-pentecostalism&search-go=&s.q=Roscoe+barnes

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Authorized preprints of both articles are available for review. See Bosworth's article here and Lindsay's article here. The preprint versions are also published on my blogs: Bosworth Matters (ffbosworth.strikingly.com) and Roscoe Reporting (roscoereporting.blogspot.com).

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Want to know more

about F.F. Bosworth?

Follow the Bosworth Matters blog!

Visit here:

ffbosworth.strikingly.com

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For more information:
Visit the F.F. Bosworth page here. Questions about the research and commentary on F.F. Bosworth may be directed to Roscoe Barnes III, Ph.D., via email at doctorbarnes3@gmail.com or roscoebarnes3@yahoo.com. For updates on F.F. Bosworth history, simply follow this blog or @bosworth_fred and @Roscoebarnes3 on Twitter. #ChristTheHealer #BosworthMention #BosworthMatters

F.F. Bosworth's Connection to the Spanish Flu

His first wife, Estelle, was possibly a victim of the deadly virus

By Roscoe Barnes III, PhD
Author, F.F. Bosworth: The Man Behind "Christ the Healer"
Copyright (c) 2020

#SpanishFlu
#FFBosworth
#BosworthMatters

F.F. Bosworth is pictured here with his first wife, Estelle, their oldest daughter, Vivien, and baby Athabelle.

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When the Spanish flu broke out in 1918, causing a terrifying pandemic, it affected millions of people, including, quite possibly, the family of F.F. Bosworth. Despite his long held belief in miracles and divine healing, and the blessings of a 10-year Pentecostal revival, his first wife, Estelle Hyde Bosworth, apparently fell prey to the deadly virus. She died on November 16, 1919.

"Influenza, terminating in tuberculosis of the lungs, had attacked Mrs. Bosworth," writes Eunice M. Perkins in Joybringer Bosworth: His Life Story (John J. Scruby, 1921).

Perkins does not use the term "Spanish flu," and she does not mention the worldwide impact of the virus. But given the timeframe of the illness, including her use of the term "influenza," it seems highly probable that Estelle was a victim of the pandemic, which lasted from 1918 to 1919. (Some sources say it ended in 1920.)

Perkins' account of Estelle's death is also featured in the second edition of Bosworth's biography, which is titled, Fred Francis Bosworth: His Life Story (F.F. Bosworth, 1927). An excerpt is featured in the image below. 

According to Perkins, Estelle's demise was also due to her tendency to "overwork, until it had become such a fixed habit in her life as to make her an easy victim of disease." She reports the young mother had been healed "repeatedly" of various illnesses. However, this time "she would succumb to the tendency to go beyond His will and her strength, until it seemed best to Him to call her ... Home to Himself."

In telling this tragic story, Perkins explains that it occurred on the heels of other unfortunate events, which included the death of their four-year-old son, Vernon. He was their only son, and he reportedly died "several years" before his mother. Fred, notes Perkins, found comfort in the belief that Estelle would see their son in heaven. "Now Stella and Vernon are together," he said. "She was always so fond of him."

Fred and Estelle married in November 1900. She was 37 at the time of her death.

Source: Fred Francis Bosworth: His Life Story by Eunice M. Perkins (F.F. Bosworth, 1927)

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Further reading

"How Pentecostals Responded to the 1918 'Spanish Influenza' Pandemic: Lessons from Assemblies of God history" by Dr. Daniel D. Isgrigg. See article here.

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Reminder: "F.F. Bosworth History" is now on Twitter. Follow @bosworth_fred

Note: My book, F.F. Bosworth: The Man Behind "Christ the Healer," can be purchased here with a 25% discount. Use the discount code: bosworth25.

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Want to know more

about F.F. Bosworth?

Follow the Bosworth Matters blog!

You can start right here:

ffbosworth.strikingly.com

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For more information:
Visit the F.F. Bosworth page here. Questions about the research and commentary on F.F. Bosworth may be directed to Roscoe Barnes III, Ph.D., via email at doctorbarnes3@gmail.com or roscoebarnes3@yahoo.com. For updates on F.F. Bosworth history, simply follow this blog or @bosworth_fred and @Roscoebarnes3 on Twitter. #ChristTheHealer #BosworthMention #BosworthMatters

Remembering Dr. Vinson Synan, Historian Extraordinaire of Pentecostal Church History

'He inspired me to do my doctoral thesis on F.F. Bosworth'

By Roscoe Barnes III, PhD
Author, F.F. Bosworth: The Man Behind "Christ the Healer"

Copyright (c) 2020

#VinsonSynan

#FFBosworth

#BosworthMatters

Dr. H. Vinson Synan

(December 1, 1934 – March 15, 2020)

Dr. Vinson Synan, world-renowned lecturer and author, will undoubtedly be remembered as the premier historian of the Pentecostal and charismatic movements. His legacy includes his service as a professor, administrator, editor, and champion of ecumenism. He was also a husband and father.

Synan, who was born on December 1, 1934 in Hopewell, Va., died on a Sunday morning, March 15, 2020, at Mercy Hospital in Oklahoma City, Okla. He was 85. He is survived by his wife, Carol Lee Fuqua Synan, and their children. He and Carol were married 59 years.

Synan's official obituary is located here.

When news of his death appeared on Facebook and other social media platforms, a wave of tributes poured in from friends, family, students, colleagues and church leaders from across the United States and other nations. Many posted selfies and some shared memories. Everyone offered tributes that showed deep respect and gratitude for Synan as a person and scholar.

F.F. Bosworth Connection

Unlike many of my friends and colleagues, however, I never had the honor of meeting Synan in person. I never sat in his class as a student and I did not spend hours fellowshipping or holding conversations with him. Yet, his contributions as the premier Pentecostal historian still had a profound impact on my life as a researcher and student of history. In short, it was because of him that I pursued my doctoral work on F.F. Bosworth. I’m convinced that had it not been for his advice, I probably would not have my PhD – or be writing about Bosworth today.

It was in the fall of 2004 when I reached out to Synan with a question about Bosworth and John G. Lake. At the time, I was doing research for a book on Bosworth. When I called Synan's office, he picked up the phone after the first ring, which surprised me. He seemed very interested in my project. He asked if I was working on a degree. I said no and explained that I was writing the book because of my personal interest in the topic. He asked if I had considered doing a PhD on Bosworth. At the time, it had not crossed my mind. But I told him I would entertain the idea. He suggested it would be a good topic for doctoral research. He also recommended Regent as a good school to consider.

Well, that was in 2004. In 2006, I began my doctoral studies with the University of Pretoria. My thesis was titled, F. F. Bosworth: A Historical Analysis of the Influential Factors in His Life and Ministry (See it here.). 

After completing my oral defense in 2010 and learning I had passed, the school informed me of the two outside examiners who read my thesis and approved it for graduation. To my surprise, one of the examiners was Dr. V. Synan (see document below). When I saw his name, I wept for joy. I don't know if he remembered me or my phone call in 2004, but I felt that I had come full circle: he was part of the beginning and the end of my doctorate.

I should note that I will always be grateful to the Lord for allowing us to connect. There's no doubt that our conversation that day was divinely orchestrated by the Spirit. I am truly humbled by the work that was accomplished as a result of his encouragement and advice.

‘Pillar’ in Church and Academia

Synan was a leader in the Pentecostal Holiness Church, where he served as director of evangelism. He published or edited more than 25 books. His many titles included The Century of the Holy Spirit and The Holiness Pentecostal Movement in the United States. Fifteen of his books are related to Pentecostal and charismatic history. Synan was a Scholar in Residence at Oral Roberts University. He also once served as the director of the Holy Spirit Research Center at ORU. In October 2018, the Virginia History Series name Synan to its Historical Hall of Fame.

“The IPHC is grateful for the life of Dr. Vinson Synan,” said Dr. Doug Beacham, general superintendent of the IPHC, in a statement posted on the IPHC website. “No one in our movement has been more influential in global Christianity than him. He was a pillar in the mid-twentieth century move of the Holy Spirit that impacted Christians from nearly every faith family within Protestantism and Catholicism.”

In addition to being a noted author and professor, Synan was a pioneer in Pentecostal research and a trailblazer in establishing a Pentecostal research community. Among other things, he played a role in creating the Society for Pentecostal Studies (SPS), where he also worked as the society’s first general secretary and its newsletter editor.

Ecumenism in the Charismatic Renewal

According to Regent University, where he served as dean of the School of Divinity from 1994 to 2006, “One of (his) greatest accomplishments was his dedication in joining with other Christian leaders in opening the door to dialogue, building understanding, and fostering honor and mutual respect among leaders and participants in the Pentecostal and Charismatic movements.” In the spirit of ecumenism, he worked to build bridges with the Roman Catholics and other faith groups.

“Dr. Vinson Synan was a powerhouse minister who God used to bring His people together and grow His kingdom,” said Pat Robertson. “He was also a world-class scholar who recorded God’s mighty works and trained new generations of ministers as dean of the Regent University School of Divinity.”

In a statement released by ORU, Synan was described as “a leading historian on the Holiness, Pentecostal, and Charismatic movements” who was “recognized for his work as an ambassador and shepherd of the Charismatic movement during the 1970’s and 1980’s.” Dr. William M. Wilson, president of ORU, said Synan had “a tremendous amount of experience in the significant faith movements of our time.” He suggested “the entire Christian world will miss this legend of a man.”

This document from the University of Pretoria, South Africa, identifies Dr. Vinson Synan as one of the external examiners of my doctoral thesis on F.F. Bosworth.

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Related articles:

“Died: Vinson Synan, Historian Who Saw Breadth of Pentecostalism: In scholarship and ministry, he argued for an expansive and expanding Spirit-filled Christianity across traditions” by Daniel Silliman (Christianity Today, March 17, 2020). See article here.

“Dr. Harold Vinson Synan Named to the Historical Hall of Fame” (October 24, 2018). See article here.

“Celebrating Dr. Vinson Synan” (March 16, 2020). See article here.

“Regent Mourns the Loss of Theologian Dr. Vinson Synan” (March 19, 2020). See article here.

“ORU MOURNS THE DEATH OF DR. VINSON SYNAN” (Sunday, March 15, 2020). See article here.

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Reminder: "F.F. Bosworth History" is now on Twitter. Follow @bosworth_fred

Note: My book, F.F. Bosworth: The Man Behind "Christ the Healer," can be purchased here with a 25% discount. Use the discount code: bosworth25.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Want to know more

about F.F. Bosworth?

Follow the Bosworth Matters blog!

You can start right here:

ffbosworth.strikingly.com

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

For more information:
Visit the F.F. Bosworth page here. Questions about the research and commentary on F.F. Bosworth may be directed to Roscoe Barnes III, Ph.D., via email at doctorbarnes3@gmail.com or roscoebarnes3@yahoo.com. For updates on F.F. Bosworth history, simply follow this blog or @bosworth_fred and @Roscoebarnes3 on Twitter. #ChristTheHealer #BosworthMention #BosworthMatters