Lavaughan Venchael Booth (January 7, 1919 – November 16, 2002) was a

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

pastor and leader in the United States, the founder and first President of the

Progressive National Baptist Convention The Progressive National Baptist Convention (PNBC), incorporated as the Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc., is a mainline predominantly African-American Baptist denomination emphasizing civil rights and social justice. The headquarte ...

Biography

Booth was born in

Collins, Mississippi Collins is a city in Covington County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 2,586 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Covington County. History From Williamsburg Depot to Collins Collins was originally incorporated as William ...

. He graduated from Hopewell High School in

Hopewell, Covington County, Mississippi Hopewell is an unincorporated community in Covington County, Mississippi, United States. History One of the oldest settlements in Covington County, one of Hopewell's earliest settlers was Thomas Ates, who bought land from the Choctaw Natives. B ...

in 1936 and has a bachelor's degree from Alcorn A&M (1940). He also studied at

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 f ...

and graduated from

Howard University Howard University (Howard) is a private, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity" and accredited by the Middle States Commissi ...

's School of Religion in 1943 with honors and as president of his class. He was the pastor of Cincinnati's Zion Baptist Church for three decades and was the first African American trustee of the

University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati) is a public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1819 as Cincinnati College, it is the oldest institution of higher education in Cincinnati and has an annual enrollment of over 44,00 ...

. He founded the

in 1961 and was elected first President of the Convention. He also established the Marva Collins Preparatory School in 1990. A lawsuit by

Marva Collins Marva Delores Collins (née Knight; August 31, 1936 – June 24, 2015) was an American educator. Collins is best known for creating Westside Preparatory School, a widely acclaimed private elementary school in the impoverished Garfield Park neighb ...

alleges the K-8 school in Cincinnati infringes on her trademark teaching method and name.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Booth, L. Venchael 1919 births 2002 deaths People from Collins, Mississippi University of Cincinnati trustees African-American Baptist ministers Alcorn State University alumni Interdenominational Theological Center alumni Howard University alumni Baptists from Mississippi 20th-century African-American people 20th-century Baptist ministers from the United States