Luận án Tiến sĩ: Tôn giáo, Chủng tộc & Chống đối - Tin Lành da trắng và sự Hòa nhập ở South Carolina (1950-1975)

RICE UNIVERSITY Religion, Race, and Resistance: White Evangelicals and the Dilemma of Integration in South Carolina 1950-1975 by J. Russell Hawkins A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE Doctor of Philosophy APPROVED, THESIS COMMITTEE: S- John a. Boles, Chair Wilimm P. Hobby Professor of History Allen J.

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Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Copyright J. Russell Hawkins 2009 ABSTRACT Religion, Race, and Resistance: White Evangelicals and the Dilemma of Integration in South Carolina, 1950-1975 by J. Russell Hawkins This dissertation contends that religion played a critical role in explaining why and how white South Carolinians decided to resist changes in the racial caste system of their society during the middle decades of the last century. As early as 1950 with the first stirrings of desegregation occurring in their state, white evangelicals in the Palmetto State began making appeals to both the Bible and the natural world to derive a theology that emphasized the divine mandate for racial segregation.

In touting this "segregationist folk theology," religious white southerners proved willing and able participants in the political massive resistance movement that attempted to thwart racial reforms initiated by civil rights demonstrations, court rulings, and federal legislation in the South from the mid 1950s to the mid 1960s. Just as political massive resistance moved from explicitly racist language to coded appeals to racial prejudice in the period after 1965, however, so too was transformed resistance that drew upon religious sources for its inspiration. During the period from the mid 1960s to the mid 1970s white evangelicals largely abandoned the biblical proof-texts that ostensibly revealed divine favor for racial segregation and turned instead to a rhetoric of individualism and colorblindness to fight against attempts to desegregate southern churches and schools. Tracking how white evangelicals' biblical defense of segregation changed over time to a rhetoric of colorblind individualism and examining the particular ways this transition affected southern religion and society by the mid 1970s is this dissertation's central focus.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I have always enjoyed reading acknowledgments but until now have never appreciated how difficult they are to write. To succinctly recognize the individuals and institutions that propelled this dissertation's writing in a sentence or two seems nearly as hard as completing the work itself. I trust the people named below understand that their influence on this project far exceeds the brief mention I am able to give them. There is no better place to pursue a graduate degree in history than Rice University.

This dissertation could not have been completed without generous funding from the Department of History, the Dean Currie Fund for Research in Southern Religious History, and the Office of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies. In addition to the financial support, the administrative assistance provided by the history department has been invaluable. From the moment I first stepped on campus as a prospective graduate student until the day I turned in my dissertation, Paula Piatt, Rachel Zepeda, Anita Smith and Lisa Tate have been nothing but helpful in navigating me through the proper channels of my graduate work. As the Directors of Graduate Students during my time at Rice, Paula Sanders and Ed Cox were similarly of tremendous assistance.

There are numerous historians and archivists I need to thank for their help with this project. Almost the entire staff at the South Carolina Historical Society helped photocopy documents and fielded follow-up phone calls I had regarding SCHS holdings. In addition to providing a useful roadmap for my dissertation with his own study of massive resistance in South Carolina, John White hunted down and photocopied relevant material for me from Special Collections at the College of Charleston. Jane Yates at The Citadel kept me busy with numerous boxes of archival material to sift through and V took time out of her own busy schedule to give me a personal tour of the school's museum.

At the South Caroliniana Library, Graham Duncan offered sage advice both for negotiating the library's impressive holdings and surviving the final weeks of our wives' pregnancy. Kate Moore and Herb Hartsook were gracious hosts during my extended time working through the boxes of the Workman Papers at the South Carolina Political Collections. In addition to handling my copious requests for photocopies, Kate gave me an insider's perspective on many South Carolina issues, while Herb pointed me to the best barbeque I tasted in the state. Stephen Barden at the Trenholm Road United Methodist Church allowed me free access to the church's archival collection and even let me poke around the church sanctuary where Bill Workman sat for so many Sundays.

Peter Murray at Methodist University helped fill in the details of his father's transfer in 1955 for criticizing the Citizens' Councils and provided me with materials on this incident from his personal collection. Finally, this dissertation would not have been possible without the aid of Phillip Stone at the Wofford College Archives. On a fairly regular basis during the course of this project, I asked Phillip to hunt down information on South Carolina Methodists and he never failed to deliver. Documents I requested from Phillip always arrived in short order.

His contribution to this work cannot be understated. Jason, Karen, Alex, and Matthew Perez graciously afforded me lodging and meals during my research trips to Columbia. Their warm and generous hospitality (and close proximity to Dunkin' Donuts) made for enjoyable stays in their home during my time in South Carolina. vi I could not have hoped for a better dissertation committee.

It has been a privilege having John Boles advise my graduate studies and oversee the writing of this dissertation. It is impossible to overstate the luxury of having an advisor who prioritizes your personal well-being over your scholastic output. Those of us who have been students of Dr. Boles know how fortunate we are.

Allen Matusow helped steer me toward my dissertation topic and was a consistent source of encouragement throughout its progression. Michael Emerson's research on race and religion played a significant role in shaping the ideas in this project and his personal and professional guidance over Reuben sandwiches in the Village was a highlight of my time at Rice. Although these three men are the foremost experts in their respective fields, they are all even better people than they are scholars. Their examples of teaching, scholarship, and mentoring are models I can only hope to emulate in my career.

Other faculty members have also contributed to my Rice experience and deserve mention here. Ira Gruber, Alex Lichtenstein, Caleb McDaniel, Anthony Pinn, Carol Quillen, and Lora Wildenthal were all helpful in one way or another in getting me through my years in graduate school. My fellow students have been perhaps as important as the faculty to my training as a historian. Among this group, Luke Harlow and Wes Phelps warrant special mention.

Luke and I began the program at the same time and his perspectives and advice on everything from publishing to pulled pork over the past five years have enriched my life in innumerable ways. Wes started the program the year after me and I had the good fortune of being assigned his "mentor" during his first semester at Rice. Wes surely got short-changed in this arrangement as he has taught me more about teaching, work ethic, vii and appreciating Bruce Springsteen than anything I ever "mentored" him about. I count myself blessed to have passed through Rice at the same time as Luke and Wes and am thankful for their friendships.

I also benefited immensely from interactions both in and out of seminar rooms with Joseph Abel, Drew Bledsoe, Andrew Canady, Jessica Cannon, Renee Chandler, Blake Ellis, Catherine Fitzgerald-Wyatt, David Getman, Derek Hicks, Alyssa Honnette, Allison Madar, Merritt McKinney, Carl Paulus, Tom Popelka, and Jim Wainwright. My family at the City of Refuge has been a constant source of encouragement and support over the past five years and has given me hope that the story in the pages that follow may yet be redeemed. Paul and Kathy Sauer, Jason and Karen Perez, Kevin and Rachel Sauer, Kyle Sauer and Kelly Sauer have been tremendously supportive over the years even as they no doubt wondered what was taking their son/brother-in-law so long to finish. My mother-in-law, Maria Sauer, passed away weeks before I was admitted to Rice.

She was an early and ardent supporter of my graduate education and I am confident she would have been proud of this project. Jerry Deck has played a more significant role in my life than cousins typically do. Telephone conversations with the Reverend Deck are always welcomed (and occasionally fruitful) distractions. My father and mother, James and Carolyn Hawkins, helped nurture my love of history at a young age with every quarter deposited at my "president's stand" and by incorporating visits to historical sites during just about every family vacation.

They, along with my sisters Emily and Kathryn, have been unrelenting cheerleaders throughout this graduate school journey and never doubted that I would someday complete it. My sons serve as perfect bookends to the project. Caleb was born right before I turned in the first chapter. Micah came along just before I completed the final draft.

Their presence has not only been a gift of incalculable joy but has also helped me maintain much needed perspective on the truly important things in life. Finally, this dissertation would never have been completed without my wife Kristi. During the past five years (and indeed long before that) she has been a constant model of selflessness, empathy, and patience as she has endured more conversations about religion, race, and the South than anyone not writing a dissertation on the topics should ever be subjected to. She has sacrificed countless evenings and weekends over the years to insure that I finish this project and never stopped believing I could even when I gave her every reason to do so.

She is my biggest supporter, proudest promoter, and best friend. This dissertation is lovingly dedicated to her. TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION Examining Religion in Massive Resistance 1 CHAPTER ONE Prologue The Life of William D. 14 CHAPTER TWO Dissent in the Pews The Limits of Denominational Leadership for South Desegregation 67 CHAPTER THREE Segregationist Folk Theology in Southern Evangelicalism 107 CHAPTER FOUR The Desegregation of Baptist and Methodist Colleges and Universities in South Carolina 143 CHAPTER FIVE Transforming the Religious Argument for Segregation The Methodist Merger 179 CHAPTER SIX Race, Religion, and Private Schools in the South New Manifestations of Religious Resistance 226 EPILOGUE The Fate of Segregationist Folk Theology and Colorblind Individualism 258 BIBLIOGRAPHY 264 1 INTRODUCTION EXAMINING RELIGION IN MASSIVE RESISTANCE In a 2000 article that seemingly every historian writing on massive resistance has since cited, Charles Eagles alerted Journal of Southern History readers of the "asymmetrical" development of civil rights historiography.

Historians of the civil rights movement in the South, Eagles observed at the time, "have tended to emphasize one side of the struggle, the movement side, and to neglect their professional obligation to understand the other side, the segregationist opposition.