James Leonard Farmer Sr. (June 12, 1886 – May 14, 1961), known as J. Leonard Farmer, was an American author, theologian, and educator. He was a minister in the

Methodist Episcopal Church, South The Methodist Episcopal Church, South (MEC, S; also Methodist Episcopal Church South) was the American Methodist denomination resulting from the 19th-century split over the issue of slavery in the Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC). Disagreement ...

and an academic in early religious history as well as theology.

Early life and education

James Leonard Farmer was the son of farm workers and former slaves from Kingstree, South Carolina. His father was Carolina and his mother Lorena (Wilson) Farmer. After limited schooling in Georgia and

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, Farmer gained a scholarship to

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a 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 its original campu ...

. He earned his bachelor, masters of theology, and doctoral degrees at this institution."James Farmer Sr. Born"
African American Registry

Career

Farmer had a dual career as a minister and an academic. He was ordained as a minister in the

. He taught and mentored as a professor at several

historically black colleges and universities Historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the intention of primarily serving the African-American community. ...

in the South, including Huston-Tillotson and Wiley colleges in Texas;

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 Mississippi; and most notably Howard University in Washington, DC, from 1939 to 1946, returning to Texas to Huston as dean until his retirement in 1956. During this period, he served as an administrator as well as a professor.

Marriage and family

In 1917 Farmer married Pearl Marion. They had two children: Helen Louise and James Farmer. Their son became a renowned civil rights leader during the

Civil Rights Movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional Racial segregation in the United States, racial segregation, Racial discrimination ...

. A proponent of non-violent action, his son James Farmer Jr was a co-founder of the Congress for Racial Equality and helped organize the

Freedom Rides Freedom Riders were civil rights activists who rode interstate buses into the segregated Southern United States in 1961 and subsequent years to challenge the non-enforcement of the United States Supreme Court decisions '' Morgan v. Virginia ...

of 1961.

Representation in popular culture

*Aspects of Farmer Sr.'s life are chronicled in the film '' The Great Debaters'' (2007), in which the minister is played by

Forest Whitaker Forest Steven Whitaker (born July 15, 1961) is an American actor. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Forest Whitaker, various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a British Academy Film Award ...

References

External links

"James L. Farmer" page
Center for East Texas Studies
"James Farmer Sr. Born"
African American Registry 1886 births 1961 deaths African-American male writers Methodist theologians Boston University School of Theology alumni People from Marshall, Texas American university and college faculty deans Writers from Texas Wiley College faculty Howard University faculty 20th-century African-American writers 20th-century American male writers Methodists from Texas {{US-academic-administrator-1880s-stub