Alexander Preston Shaw (April 8, 1879 – March 7, 1996) was notable as an

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...

pastor A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...

, editor, and

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...

of the

Methodist Episcopal Church The Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC) was the oldest and largest Methodist denomination in the United States from its founding in 1784 until 1939. It was also the first religious denomination in the US to organize itself on a national basis. In ...

and the Methodist Church. He was elected and consecrated to the

episcopacy A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

in 1936. Shaw held the distinction of being the first

bishop of the Methodist Church (at the age of 71) to preside full-time over a predominantly white Annual Conference: the

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Conference (in 1950, coincidentally the 100th annual meeting of this body), which met that year at the

University of Redlands The University of Redlands is a private university headquartered in Redlands, California. The university's main, residential campus is situated on 160 acres (65 ha) near downtown Redlands. An additional eight regional locations throughout Califo ...

Birth and family

Alexander was born 18 April 1879 in

Abbeville Abbeville (, vls, Abbekerke, pcd, Advile) is a commune in the Somme department and in Hauts-de-France region in northern France. It is the chef-lieu of one of the arrondissements of Somme. Located on the river Somme, it was the capital of ...

in northern

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

. He was the eighth of eleven children of the Reverend Duncan Preston and Maria ( née Petty) Shaw. Alexander's parents were ex-slaves; his father also an

ordained minister In Christianity, a minister is a person authorised by a church or other religious organization to perform functions such as teaching of beliefs; leading services such as weddings, baptisms or funerals; or otherwise providing spiritual guid ...

in the Methodist Episcopal Church, as was Alexander's elder brother, J. Beverly F. Shaw. Alexander married Lottye Blanche Simon March 29, 1911. They had children Alexander Preston Jr., Bernard Johnson,

twins Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of TwinLast Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two em ...

Lena Anita and Bessie Elaine, Helen Marguerite, and Wilbur Allen.

Education

Alexander Sr. earned the

A.B. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

degree from

Rust College Rust College is a private historically black college in Holly Springs, Mississippi. Founded in 1866, it is the second-oldest private college in the state. Affiliated with the United Methodist Church, it is one of ten historically black colleges ...

in 1902. He then earned the B.D. degree from

Gammon Theological Seminary The Interdenominational Theological Center (ITC) is a consortium of five predominantly African-American denominational Christian seminaries in Atlanta, Georgia, operating together as a professional graduate school of theology. It is the largest ...

in 1906. He also did graduate work at

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with ...

Ordained and editorial ministry

Shaw originally planned a career as a public school

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

. But he was received on trial in 1908 by the

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Annual Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He was ordained an elder and received into full connection in 1910. Reverend Shaw distinguished himself as a pastor serving the following appointments:

Westminster, Maryland Westminster is a city in northern Maryland, United States. It is the seat of Carroll County. The city's population was 18,590 at the 2010 census. Westminster is an outlying community within the Baltimore-Towson, MD MSA, which is part of a great ...

(1908–09); Harrisburg, Pennsylvania (1909–11);

Winchester, Virginia Winchester is the most north western independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is the county seat of Frederick County, although the two are separate jurisdictions. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the city of Winchester wit ...

(1911–15);

Little Rock, Arkansas ( The "Little Rock") , government_type = Council-manager , leader_title = Mayor , leader_name = Frank Scott Jr. , leader_party = D , leader_title2 = Council , leader_name2 ...

(1915-17); and the Wesley

Chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common ty ...

Methodist Church in

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(1917–31). He also was a member of the 1928 General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Shaw also distinguished himself as the elected editor of the ''Southwestern Christian Advocate'', an important

periodical A periodical literature (also called a periodical publication or simply a periodical) is a published work that appears in a new edition on a regular schedule. The most familiar example is a newspaper, but a magazine or a journal are also example ...

of his denomination. His term of service as editor lasted from 1931 until 1936, during which time he built up the paper from a circulation of about 5,000 to 9,000. Publication was headquartered in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

. He also contributed numerous articles on religious subjects to a variety of publications. Shaw also was a Mason.

Episcopal ministry

Shaw was elected to the episcopacy of the Methodist Episcopal Church and consecrated a bishop (the highest office in the Methodist ministry) by the 1936 General Conference. Shaw was assigned to the

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

episcopal area An episcopal area in the United Methodist Church (UMC) is a basic unit of this denomination. It is a region presided over by a resident bishop that is similar to a diocese in other Christian denominations. Each annual conference in the UMC is wi ...

(1936–40), and then to the

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Episcopal Area of the Central Jurisdiction of the Methodist Church (1940–52). As resident bishop of the Baltimore Area, he served as the presiding bishop of the

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...

, East Tennessee,

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

, and

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

Annual Conferences of the Central Jurisdiction. These conferences together included some 1,300

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

Methodist churches and about 100,000 church members. Shaw also served on the so-called "Committee of Twenty-eight", the Board of Education, the Board of Missions, the Board of

Temperance Temperance may refer to: Moderation *Temperance movement, movement to reduce the amount of alcohol consumed *Temperance (virtue), habitual moderation in the indulgence of a natural appetite or passion Culture *Temperance (group), Canadian danc ...

, and the Committee on

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. His office while bishop of the Baltimore Area was located at 1206 Etting Street, Baltimore 17. His home was at 828 North Carrollton Avenue, Baltimore.

As pastor/preacher

Described by ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...

'' magazine (in its 26 June 1950 issue) as "tall" (6 ft 3 in; 190 cm), Shaw also was well-poised. When he was appointed to Winchester, Virginia, he found the second-floor ceiling of his parsonage too low for him. When he solved this problem by persuading his congregation to rent him another house, while leasing the parsonage "to a much shorter man", newspapers in the Washington and New York areas delightedly picked up the story, causing the Reverend Shaw "a good deal of embarrassment". Nevertheless, Shaw was a brilliant

preacher A preacher is a person who delivers sermons or homilies on religious topics to an assembly of people. Less common are preachers who preach on the street, or those whose message is not necessarily religious, but who preach components such as ...

. His specialty was his urgent appeal to youth. Speaking of the Wesley Chapel Methodist Episcopal Church in Los Angeles, the city's fifth largest, Shaw said, "My Church was not filled with bald-headed people. We had regularly as many as 200 to 300 youngsters attending services." Reportedly, he would occasionally bring an outstanding boy or girl into the pulpit with him, to lecture on how the church could be made even more interesting to young people.

Advocate for his race

Shaw was also reported by ''Time'' magazine as "consistently advocat ngself-improvement and development for his race." This was distinguished from "the rough, wild way of pressure groups trying to stamp out anti-

Negro In the English language, ''negro'' is a term historically used to denote persons considered to be of Black African heritage. The word ''negro'' means the color black in both Spanish and in Portuguese, where English took it from. The term can be ...

activities." Shaw held that "a sufficient amount of real excellence – as has been achieved by

Marian Anderson Marian Anderson (February 27, 1897April 8, 1993) was an American contralto. She performed a wide range of music, from opera to spirituals. Anderson performed with renowned orchestras in major concert and recital venues throughout the United ...

and Dr. Carver and Jackie Robinson – is the surest way." Above all, said ''Time'', " ishop Shawbelieve that Negroes should observe the rule he himself has followed with such conspicuous success: ''take on responsibilities''." Said Shaw:

If you don't have responsibilities, you don't grow strong enough to handle them.

Honorary degrees

Shaw was honored by

Philander Smith College Philander Smith College is a private historically black college in Little Rock, Arkansas. It is affiliated with the United Methodist Church and is a founding member of the United Negro College Fund (UNCF). Philander Smith College is accredited by ...

in 1916 with the Doctor of Divinity degree. Rust College did the same in 1920, as did Gammon Theological Seminary ( D.D., 1924). Boston University awarded the D.D. in 1937. Rust College also awarded Shaw the

LL.D. Legum Doctor (Latin: “teacher of the laws”) (LL.D.) or, in English, Doctor of Laws, is a doctorate-level academic degree in law or an honorary degree, depending on the jurisdiction. The double “L” in the abbreviation refers to the early ...

in 1937.

Retirement, death and burial

Shaw

retired Retirement is the withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from one's active working life. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours or workload. Many people choose to retire when they are elderly or incapable of doing their j ...

in 1952 from the active episcopacy of the Methodist Church. He was, however, called out of

retirement Retirement is the withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from one's active working life. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours or workload. Many people choose to retire when they are elderly or incapable of doing their j ...

in 1953 to again serve part of the New Orleans Area following the death of Bishop Robert Nathaniel Brooks. Shaw served the rest of that

quadrennium A unit of time is any particular time interval, used as a standard way of measuring or expressing duration. The base unit of time in the International System of Units (SI) and by extension most of the Western world, is the second, defined as ab ...

(1952–56) in this position. Shaw died on March 7, 1966. He is buried in

Selected writings

* ''Christianizing Race Relations'', 1928.

References

* Howell, Clinton T., ''Prominent Personalities in American Methodism'', Birmingham, Alabama: The Lowry Press, 1945. * "Take On Responsibilities", (article about Bishop Shaw) in ''Time'' magazine, June 26, 1950

* ''Who's Who in Methodism'', Dr. Elmer T. Clark, Editor-in-Chief, Chicago: The A. N. Marquis Co., 1952.