By Joan C. McKinney, director, Office of University Communications
CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. - Dr. Gerald L. Smith, a distinguished professor of history at the University of Kentucky, will speak at chapel Wednesday, Feb. 20 for the university's observance of Black History Month at 10 a.m. in Ransdell Chapel at 401 N. Hoskins Ave., Campbellsville.
The chapel is co-sponsored by Greater Campbellsville United.
Smith serves as pastor of Pilgrim Baptist Church in Lexington and is a historian of national renown relative to African American history, the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights Movement, Dr. John Chowning, executive assistant to Campbellsville University's president for government, community and constitutant relations, said.
Smith is an associate professor of African American history and the Martin Luther King Jr. Scholar-in-Residence at the University of Kentucky. Smith is the author, editor or co-editor of several books. He is a contributing volume co-editor of the “Papers of Martin Luther King, Jr. Volume Six: Advocate of the Social Gospel.”
He has nearly 40 other publications in historical journals and encyclopedias.
From 1997 until 2005, he served as the director of the African American Studies and Research Program at UK.
In 2015, he received Campbellsville University's Racial Reconciliation Award which is given to those who have shown outstanding characteristics of servant leadership in bringing people together past racial matters and across lines of ethnicity, and who have been significant bridge builders for the community.
Chowning said Smith is an “excellent speaker and preacher as well as a distinguished professor and educator.”
Chowning invites the entire university community, including students as well as those in the area, to attend Campbellsville University's chapel as “Dr. Smith will bring a powerful and important message.”
Smith earned his bachelor of arts, master of arts and Ph.D. degrees in history from UK. He is a native of Lexington.
He taught at the University of Memphis from 1988 to 1993. From 1997 until 2005, he served as the director of the African American Studies and Research Program.
Smith has consulted on various historical projects, lectured on colleges campuses around Kentucky and conducted workshops for primary and secondary school teachers.
He has also appeared in historical documentaries that have aired on CBS, NBC, KET and TruTV.
Smith is general co-editor of “The Kentucky African American Encyclopedia” published in 2015.
He is researching and writing a new general history of African Americans in Kentucky.
Smith has served on a number of different boards and committees and is the recipient of numerous awards.
He and his wife, Teresa Turner Smith, have two daughters, Elizabeth and Sarah.
Smith's address is part of Campbellsville University's celebration of Black History Month. Dr. E. Bruce Williams, senior pastor at Bates Memorial Baptist Church in Louisville, spoke Jan. 23 for the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. chapel service, and the Amazing Tones of Joy from Western Kentucky University gave a gospel concert Feb. 7.
All chapels are free and open to the public each Wednesday at 10 a.m. in the Ransdell Chapel at 401 N. Hoskins Ave., Campbellsville.
Chapel is designed to provide opportunities for corporate worship and exposure through a variety of informative speakers and presentations, Ed Pavy, director of campus ministries, said.
All chapel programs are televised live on WLCU (Comcast Cable channel 10 and digital channel 23.0) and are streamed live on the internet at wlcutv.com.
For more information about chapel, contact Ed Pavy at ecpavy@campbellsville.edu or (270) 789-5227.
Campbellsville University is a widely-acclaimed Kentucky-based Christian university with more than 13,000 students offering more than 90 programs of study including Ph.D., master, baccalaureate, associate, pre-professional and certification programs. The university has off-campus centers in Kentucky cities Louisville, Harrodsburg, Somerset, Hodgenville and Liberty with Kentucky instructional sites in Elizabethtown, Owensboro and Summersville. The university also has a full complement of online programs. The website for complete information is campbellsville.edu.
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