Claypool & King in Louisville

Some documents regarding Dr. John Claypool, Martin Luther King, and Race as it relates to Crescent Hill Baptist Church and Louisville — John Arnett

Alan Culpepper, who will be writing the “Claypool at Crescent Hill” chapter in the upcoming biography of Dr. Claypool, has the material below, but since not all of it will make it into the book, I thought I’d share my composite collection with you.

1960, summer –Martin Luther King attended a voter registration held in the Louisville Armory (now Louisville Gardens). David Graves remembers attending with his father.

1961,April 14 – Beams note by Dr. Claypool talking about two missionaries (John Moore and Neville Claxon) who would be preaching for him on Sunday, April 16 since “I am engaged this week in revival services at First Baptist Church, Denmark, South Carolina [one hour west of Charleston and about 600 miles from Louisville].”

1961, April 16, Sunday – John A. Moore and Neville Claxon preaching at CHBC while Dr. Claypool away.

1961, April 19, Wed – Dr. Martin Luther King address at the seminary in Louisville. A link allowing one to listen to this 48 minute address is located on the SBTS archive:
Martin Luther King, Jr. at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary – AlbertMohler.com

1961, April 20, Thurs – article in the Courier-Journal with photo of Dr. Claypool with Dr. King (actual page supplied by Pat Howington.)

1961 —“I have an oral history about what happened as a result of the picture. In short, “all hell broke loose.” There was a called business meeting [There are no minutes recorded of his meeting in the CHBC archives. – JWA] that was heated and raged for some hours, but then Homer Parker, a well-respected business leader in town, stood up and simply said: “let’s see how this turns out.” Not surprisingly, church continued on the next Sunday etc. A number of folks left the church and others stopped giving. Dad, as a young man in a huge pulpit, was bemoaning his “fate” with his former ethics professor at the Seminary during this period. This gentleman said: “well you have made your bed the only question is what will you do next?” It was at that moment Dad chose the path of fully engaging with the civic rights movement and he never looked back. As a son of the South, he was pushed into that decision by a picture, but he owned it in his heart. “ (Rowan Claypool e-mail Dec 19, 2020)

1961, April 21 – Beams article by Claypool, “This was the firsts week I’ve been away since I came last October, ” The entire front page of the Beams that week: “Welcome Home, Pastor The entire church membership wishes to extend to our pastor a cordial welcome as he returns from revival services at First Baptist Church, Denmark, South Carolina. We missed him and look forward to hearing him at the worship services, April 23.”

1961, April 23, Sunday – Dr. Claypool preached a sermon, “What On Earth Is Wrong.”
[There is no copy of this sermon in the church archives. The sermons may not have been printed before May 20, 1962. It’s still a mystery how Dr. Claypool could be holding a revival at the Denmark, SC, church and also hear the King address and attend the special session of the deacon meeting probably on Thursday. Maybe he just preached at the Mon, Tues, and Friday services.][Not discouraged by the deacons’ outburst in April and inspired, no doubt, by MLK, Claypool approached the deacons again in August with the next step:]

1961, August — In a 2007 telephone interview David Cook had with Dr. Claypool for a biography he was compiling on the life of his mother, Betty Cook, he reports the following: “Dr. Claypool spoke of a Nigerian couple – the Akandes – who wrote him in 1961….’Well, of course, I saw that as just a perfect opportunity for us to do something, so I went to the Deacons with the letter, and I said when they came this is really going to be a golden opportunity to welcome them. Well, what I found out was that just a great host of lay people did not want that. I went to the WMU…and they said, “Let them go to their own people.” And I said, “We are their people.”…I learned then that institutional success was far more important to many people than being faithful on that particular issue…the room…was really hot—not only by temperature, but it became hot by feeling. It was a bristling debate, and finally, they agreed with me that we should accept these people…About forty people wound up leaving the church.’…I was there for eleven years and toward the end of my time there, people would say to me, “You know, I was so annoyed with you at first, but now I realize it was the right thing for us to do.”’” (The Benefit of Her Gifts, Vol I, David Cook, pages 468-469. The rest of David’s interview with Dr. Claypool is copied at the end of this paper.)

August 14, 1961 Board of Deacons’ Meeting
“Dr. Claypool discussed communication he had with Dr. Hugh Peterson [professor at SBTS] concerning a Nigerian couple who will be studying in the Seminary this fall. At present they are attending Wayland College, Plainview, Texas, and are members of a Southern Baptist Church there. They came from a Southern Baptist Mission School in Nigeria to study in this country. They had written Dr. Peterson, asking the name of the church closest to the Seminary where they might worship. Crescent Hill, being the nearest to the Seminary, will be the most logical church for them to worship and affiliate with.
Dr. Claypool requested the prayerful concern of the Board and its support in the event the couple should choose Crescent Hill as their church home. All the opinions expressed were favorable and the discussion was concluded with a prayer by our pastor.
Respectfully submitted, Daniel M. Trollinger”

My first cousin, Jim Pool, son of Nigerian missionaries, Dr. & Mrs. Christy Pool, attended Atherton and graduated with us in 1962. He died Aug 18, 2013, and age 68. I cleaned out his storage locker in Temple, TX, that summer. He had stayed with his mother [my mother’s sister] during her last years in San Angelo, TX, and had organized all the letters he’d written to her which she had saved. As I went through these I was impressed by this one of September 10, 1961. I quote relevant portions:
“Sunday afternoon, September 10, 1961
Dear Mother and Dad, . . .
I felt that today as a spectator I witnessed one of the finest moments in Crescent Hill [Baptist Church]. The whole congregation had listened to a 35 minute sermon, and there was a larger than usual crowd at church. We here at the Claxon’s [Neville and Emma Claxon’s house of “Missionary Kids” on Crescent Ave in Louisville] have been anticipating this Sunday all week. I feel that I have not showed nearly the concern that it was my part to show. At any rate, this morning, in the late service, 14 people placed a request for membership in our church. Among them Brother and Mrs. (Comfort) Sam Akande].
Dr. Claypool purposely put them last. He had said to Uncle Neville [Claxon], “I don’t want to play this down.” Yet he did not preach a sermon on racial equality either. Just before the benediction, Dr. Claypool said that this was a significant time for the church, that the circuit of mission endeavor was being completed. Here were the results of our missionaries’ years of witnessing and teaching.
The pastor quietly asked for a show of hands welcoming the Akandes. I did not turn around to look, but as far I know, the vote must have been unanimous, and there were more wet eyes around too. Dr. Claypool said just before closing, “I think it can be said that this is one of Crescent Hill’s finest hours.” There was a welcoming line clear out the front door to the front steps of the church, if you know how far that is.
I believe the most significant fact, besides that other churches in town will be raising controversy, is that now the Akandes are members and can serve the Lord in a homelike atmosphere. I hope, without knowing for sure, that they will carry out a wonderful Christian ministry with God’s help.. . .
Jim [Pool]”

[Jim graduated from Atherton, then Baylor, and joined the Air Force for the four years and served many of those in Vietnam.]

The Beams
September 15, 1961
Pastor’s Paragraphs: Dr. John R. Claypool
I shall always look back on September 10, 1961 as a memorable day in my ministry. As I witnessed the acceptance of Brother and Mrs. Samuel Akande of Nigeria into our church, I saw men and women surrendering up all individual opinions to what was obviously the mind of Christ. In this act – doubly significant because of the character of our times – I feel we were a “Church” in the fullest sense of the term; that is, we were “the body of Christ,” guided by Him who is the Head.
Your action yesterday came as no surprise to me. From the time that I first learned of this possibility, I had prayed earnestly that we would honor Christ in our action. And by the manner in which the deacons and officers of the W.M.U. responded to this issue I can say without hesitation that the last two months have been the finest experience I have ever had with any church, and I went home yesterday grateful to God for the privilege of associating with you in the Christian pilgrimage. The future for Christian service is bright because of the spirit that was manifested last Sunday.

The Beams
June 1, 1962
Pastor’s Paragraphs: John R. Claypool
Next Sunday one of the most significant chapters in the life of our church will come to an end. Samuel and Comfort Akande will worship with us for the last time and then return to their home. In one sense no special note need be made of it, for dozens of Seminary couples go out from us in this manner. That which gives unusual meaning to this situation is that the Akandes are Nigerians and are the first of their race to hold membership in our church.
It was just about a year ago that we first learned that this couple would be in our community. They were products of the Southern Baptist’s oldest foreign mission work, and were in Wayland College getting further preparation for the ministry. Our church was alerted to this unusual opportunity, and in September the Akandes were accepted wholeheartedly into our fellowship.

I would like to commend both this couple and our church members for the way they have responded to this situation. The Akandes have manifested a sensitive Christian spirit and in no way have tried to exploit their relationship. On the other hand, many church members have gone out of their way to assure these friends that they are our brother and sister in Christ. Their being here has helped us better understand the many problems faced by Negroes in a culture dominated by the Caucasians, and the way many have worked to remove embarrassing barriers has been quite wholesome. I personally have a “good feeling” about the whole experience, and believe that we are all the better for having passed through it.

At our Evening Service this Sunday, Mr. Akande will preach the sermon and try to sum up his impressions of the year. I urge you to make a special effort to be present and both hear this one and bid them farewell in the name of our common Lord.

September 3, 1962
Board of deacons
Dr. Claypool discussed a letter her received from Mr. Carl Whirley [John Whirley’s dad] regarding Samuel and Comfort Akande. He said that the church may never know the good they have done and the help they have been to the mission work in Nigeria through our experiences with the Akandes. He reported that Samuel has accepted the pastorate of one of large churches in Nigeria and is doing a fine job. Dr. Claypool also said that another Nigerian minister, a Mr. Keku, would be coming to the seminary this year to study for a year before returning to Nigeria to preach. He didn’t know whether Mr. Keku would come to Crescent Hill, but if he did, it would probably be about the time the seminary term begins.

1963, Sept 27 – In the Beams of this date Dr. Claypool reflected on the tragic event of the previous week when two white sixteen-year-old boys shot a Negro child [Virgil Wade] off his bicycle and the judge asked the minister of the boys if he had ever “preached on human brotherhood in a way that might have prevented this calamity?” Dr. Claypool realized “what a tremendous responsibility the clergyman bears in our present struggle.” “I am offering my own confession that we ministers have sinned ‘the sin of silence and evasion.’” Claypool continues, “By allowing our nation to think that racial prejudice and exploitation are not really a serious moral breach and leaving unchallenged conditions that are eating away at our spiritual vitals, we ministers have been crying ‘Peace, peace’ when there is no peace.” In this article, Dr. Claypool stated a mission for himself to be a prophet for the cause of racial justice. [The two white boys got a suspended sentence.]

1965 [not sure of year] – David Graves preached a sermon at the Baptist church he was attending in Birmingham and quoted Dr. MLK. He was subsequently asked by some of the deacons never to preach in that church again.

1967, April 4 – Martin Luther King speech at Riverside Church in NYC opposing the Vietnam War and proposing US stop the bombing of N. Vietnam, declare a unilateral truce, and bring home troops. [money taken from War on Poverty to finance the war and disproportionate number of black boys sent to fight the war 8,000 miles away]. King drew a lot of flak for his anti-war stance. [ I Doubt that there was much said by Claypool in the CHBC pulpit against the war because of a conservative majority of members in the congregation many of whom had fought the Communists in Korea – John Sandidge, et al–and were probably believers in the Domino Theory. Nevertheless, according to Temp Sparkman’s recollection in Carolyn Ratliff book, Claypool did address the Vietnam issue in at least one sermon when he said, “God is not like General Curtis LeMay, who was wholly callous toward civilian casualties.”][In that same Ratliff collection of Claypool remembrances, Michael Hester recounted that Peggy’s first husband had died in Vietnam.]

1967, May 10 –Dr. Martin L. King visited Louisville and led open housing march. He met with Dr. Claypool and Dr. Allen Graves at seminary. Elaine Arnett attended the King rally with her cousin Carolyn Pool, Jim’s sister

1968, April 4 – Dr. Martin Luther King, assassinated in Memphis, TN

1968, April 14, Sunday – Dr. Claypool’s first sermon at CHBC after King’s death: “In his last sermon to us on Wednesday evening, Dr. Charles Boddie [African-American President of the American Baptist Seminary in Nashville, TN who also preached on Sunday April 7, 1968 ] observed that Easter this year was coming ‘just in the nick of time.’ He had reference, I am sure to the great mood of heaviness that is bearing down on our country right now. . .To most of the people with whom I have talked I n the last few years, Martin Luther King was as despised and ridiculed and hated a figure as existed. . .If we were ever on the verge of giving up hope in America and in ourselves and in our kind of world, the first two weeks of April, 1968, would be the time. But Easter says to us: ‘Don’t do it!’. . . If God has not given up on this kind of world, neither should we.”

Some additional comments by Dr. Claypool to David Cook in his 2007 interview for the biography he was writing on his mother, Betty Cook:Dr. Claypool — “I had been raised in the Southern culture. I had been totally unaware of the race tension growing up because I was just part of that Southern way of life. Clarence Jordan came to Mars Hill which was a little junior college I went to, and in just five days he really opened my eyes and aroused my conscience to the problem. This would have been in 1949, and so I recall early on, thinking this issue is going to have to be one that I grapple with in my life.
“I am a descendant of slave owners. My kind of people have helped create this problem. I had this great desire to do something redemptive on the other side, which meant I intentionally aligned myself with a lot of groups in Louisville at the time that were trying to work for more social justice. Well, lots of people in Crescent Hill were where I was in the 1930s and 40s. That is, the issue was not something they were concerned about, and they were not used to a minister raising issues like that, as part of the life of the church. I can remember person after person, ‘Why are you getting everybody stirred up, ‘cause this has nothing to do with saving souls and taking care of the sick.’

“So there was a tension early on that I confess both the times and my own particular feeling created, and your mother was one of those wonderful lay people that sensed that this was something that as Christians, we had to grapple with. And let me say that if it hadn’t been for the Seminary constituency I probably would not have survived at Crescent Hill, because there were lots and lots of ordinary lay people that just did not feel like my raising this issue was appropriate”
[at this point Dr. Claypool spoke of the Akandes in the comments already quoted above.]
David Cook also interviewed Tom and Pat Scott who also had comments about Claypool, King, and the race issue: “The church was sort of divided at that time. Half the people didn’t like Claypool talking about Martin Luther King. And we thought it was so great! We were fired up! We didn’t know that the older people didn’t like it because we thought it was right.” (Vol I pg 470)

David Cook also interviewed Sarah Jo Hooper:
1973 – Sarah Jo Hooper asked Dr. Howell to perform the wedding ceremony between her and her husband who was African-American. In a November 2003 interview with David Cook for material related to the biography he was writing about Betty Cook, Sarah Jo mentioned that she didn’t want to ask Dr. Claypool to perform the ceremony because many “people were so over sensitized that you couldn’t even say the word ‘race’ because of John Claypool’s ministry here. He was so committed to dealing with the race issue, that he never let a sermon go by, that he didn’t bring it up. And we lost a lot of members.” [pg 91 Vol II of Betty Cook, Wounded Healer, 2020]

Although many lay people left the church because of Dr. Claypool’s race stance, many including most of the lay leadership stayed on, and many others joined the church because of Claypool’s progressive vision. – JWA

In the archives of CHBC there are printed copies of about 222 sermons Dr. Claypool preached at Crescent Hill between 1962 and 1971. The archives have no copies of sermons for 1960 and 1961. In those printed sermons that we have, there are likely more references to Dr. King and maybe even to April 19, 1961 Seminary address. Over the next few months I’ll search through them. Alan says that one of Dr. Claypool’s friends has uploaded all of his sermons to some archival site and, if so, it may be possible to search them more easily. — JWA