By Mikayla Smith, student news writer
CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. — In honor of Campbellsville University's celebration of Black History Month, Dr. David Emmanuel Goatley, executive secretary-treasurer of the Lott Carey Baptist Foreign Mission Convention, and Dr. Gerald Smith, associate professor of African-American history and director of the African-American Studies and Research Program at the University of Kentucky, will be featured speakers during February.
Goatley, former pastor of First Baptist Church in Campbellsville, will speak on Wednesday, Feb. 12 at 10 a.m. in the Ransdell Chapel, 401 N. Hoskins Ave., Campbellsville, during the university's regular chapel services.
Smith will be the featured speaker at the Kentucky Heartland Institute on Public Policy event at 5 p.m. Monday, Feb. 24 in the Banquet Hall of the Badgett Academic Support Center at 110 University Drive, Campbellsville.
“We are pleased to be hosting two excellent speakers as part of Campbellsville University's Black History Month emphasis,” Dr. John Chowning, vice president for church and external relations and executive assistant to the president, said.
“Dr. David Goatley brings a national and international perspective to the role and contributions of African-Americans. Dr. Gerald Smith is a foremost authority on the African-American experience in Kentucky and beyond,” Chowning said.
“Black History is really American history. African-Americans have made innumerable contributions to the advancement and progress of our nation and world. Join us in learning more from both Dr. Goatley and Dr. Smith,” he said.
Goatley oversees the vision, administration and development efforts to invest in indigenous leadership and programs in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Europe, North America, Oceania and South America.
Previously, Goatley has served as pastor, university professor and seminary professor. He has earned two degrees from the University of Louisville (an associate of arts in science and a bachelor of science) and The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary where he received a master of divinity and his Ph.D.
Goatley is the author of two books, “Were You There?: Godforsakenness in Slave Religion” and “A Divine Assignment: The Missiology of Wendell Clay Somerville.” Also, he was the editor of “Black Religion, Black Theology: Selected Writings of J. Deotis Roberts.” In addition, he has written journal articles, book chapters and online essays.
Elected in July 2006 as a member of the 64-seat national board of directors of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People-a premier civil rights organization in the United States, Goatley has also served as a member of the board of directors for Save Darfur Coalition-an advocacy community working for peace, security and justice in Darfur and Sudan.
Also he has served as president of the North American Baptist Fellowship, the regional body of more than 30 Baptist denominations and organizations affiliated with the Baptist World Alliance.
Goatley, his wife, Pamela, and their son, Atiba Emmanuel, reside in the Metropolitan Washington, D.C. area.
 Dr. Gerald Smith |
Smith, a native of Lexington, Ky., has served as pastor of Pilgrim Baptist Church in Lexington since 2011.
He earned his bachelor of arts, master of arts and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Kentucky in history. He taught at the University of Memphis from 1988 to 1993.
From 1997 to 2005, he served as the director of the African-American Studies and Research Program.
Smith is the author, editor or co-editor of three 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.
Smith has consulted on various historical projects, lectured on college campuses around the state, 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.
He is general co-editor of “The Kentucky African American Encyclopedias” that is scheduled to be 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 now serves as chair of the Kentucky African American Heritage Commission.
His awards are many including a National Faculty Scholar, induction into the Martin Luther King Jr. Collegium of Scholars of Morehouse College in Atlanta, Ga. and is one of six professors on UK's campus chosen by the UK Alumni Association to receive the 2013 Great Teacher Award.
He is married to Teresa Turner Smith. They have two daughters Elizabeth and Sarah.
Everyone is invited to both events free of charge.
Campbellsville University is a widely acclaimed Kentucky-based Christian university with more than 3,600 students offering 63 undergraduate options, 17 master's degrees, five postgraduate areas and eight pre-professional programs. The website for complete information is campbellsville.edu.