Feb. 18, 2014
For Immediate Release
By Mikayla Smith, student news writer
CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. — In honor of Campbellsville University’s celebration of Black History Month, Dr. Gerald Smith, associate professor of African-American history and the Martin Luther King Jr. Scholar-in-Residence at the University of Kentucky, will speak at 5 p.m. Monday, Feb. 24 in the Banquet Hall of the Badgett Academic Support Center at 110 University Drive, Campbellsville, in a Kentucky Heartland Institute on Public Policy (KHIPP) event.
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| Dr. Gerald L. Smith |
“We are pleased to be hosting Dr. Gerald Smith 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. 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 Dr. Smith,” he said.
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,” 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.
Dr. David Goatley, executive secretary-treasurer of the Lott Carey Baptist Foreign Mission Convention and former pastor of First Baptist Church in Campbellsville, spoke during the university’s regular chapel services Feb. 12 as part of CU’s celebration of Black History Month.
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.