Isaac Taylor Tichenor: The Creation of the Baptist New South (Religion & American Culture)

A full-length study of the influential role Tichenor played in shaping both the Baptist denomination and southern culture.

Born in Spencer County, Kentucky, on November 11, 1825, Isaac Taylor Tichenor worked as a Confederate chaplain, a mining executive, and as president of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Alabama (now Auburn University). He also served as corresponding secretary for the Home Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention in Atlanta from 1882 until 1899. In these capacities Tichenor developed the New South ideas that were incorporated into every aspect of his work and ultimately influenced many areas of southern life, including business, education, religion, and culture.

 Michael E. Williams examines Tichenor’s entire life and work. He documents the methodologies Tichenor used to rally Southern Baptist support around its struggling Home Mission Board, which defined the makeup of the Southern Baptist Convention and defeanded the territory of the Convention. Williams contends that Tichenor’s role in shaping Southern Baptists as they became the largest denomination in the South was crucial in determining both the identities of the region and the SBC.

Michael E. Williams Sr. is Dean of Humanities and Social Sciences and Professor of History at Dallas Baptist University and author of To God Be the Glory: The Centennial History of Dallas Baptist University, 1898-1998.