David Edwin Harrell Jr. (February 22, 1930 – March 15, 2021) was an American historian best known for his scholarship of

religion in the United States Christianity is the most widely professed religion in the United States, with Protestantism being its largest branch, although the country is believed to be "rapidly secularizing".

. Harrell was born in Jacksonville, Florida to parents David Edwin (a physician) and Mildred Lee Harrell (a homemaker). He attended

David Lipscomb College Lipscomb University is a private university in Nashville, Tennessee. It is affiliated with the Churches of Christ. The campus is located in the Green Hills neighborhood of Nashville, between Belmont Boulevard to the west and Granny White Pike on ...

as an undergraduate, and Vanderbilt University as a graduate student. He received a Ph.D. in 1962. Harrell was a professor at

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a public land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama. With more than 24,600 undergraduate students and a total enrollment of more than 30,000 with 1,330 faculty members, Auburn is the second largest uni ...

, where he served as the Breeden Eminent Scholar of Southern History. He retired in 2006. He wrote biographies of Oral Roberts, Pat Robertson, and

Homer Hailey Homer Hailey (August 12, 1903 – November 9, 2000) was an American preacher in the churches of Christ in the 20th century, a professor at Abilene Christian University and Florida College, and the author of at least fifteen theological books ...

, as well as other works about Pentecostalism and the

Charismatic movement The charismatic movement in Christianity is a movement within established or mainstream Christian denominations to adopt beliefs and practices of Charismatic Christianity with an emphasis on baptism with the Holy Spirit, and the use of spirit ...

. In 2006, he published ''Unto a Good Land: A History of the American People'', a college textbook that discusses the effects of religion in the history of the United States. Harrell died on March 15, 2021.

References

1930 births 2021 deaths 21st-century American historians Vanderbilt University alumni Lipscomb University alumni Auburn University faculty People from Nashville, Tennessee People from Auburn, Alabama Writers from Jacksonville, Florida 20th-century American historians 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers American male non-fiction writers Historians from Tennessee Historians from Alabama Historians from Florida American textbook writers American historians of religion American members of the Churches of Christ {{US-historian-stub