Interview with Dr. William Penn Davis : former president of the Mississippi Baptist Convention Board, president emeritus of Mississippi Baptist Seminary

              Interview with Dr. William Penn Davis : former president of the Mississippi Baptist Convention Board, president emeritus of Mississippi Baptist Seminary
This oral history is provided through a cooperative project of University of Southern Mississippi Libraries and USM's Center for Oral History and Cultural Heritage.
Funding provided by a National Leadership Grant for Libraries from the Institute for Museum and Library Services
The transcript is presented here for reference purposes only. Interviews in this collection are protected by copyright. PERMISSION TO PUBLISH MUST BE REQUESTED from the Center for Oral History and Cultural Heritage. Please call ( 601) 266- 4574 for more information.
Biography
William Penn Davis was born in Union County, Mississippi, on August 5, 1903. He attended Itawamba Agricultural High School and then Clarke College. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Mississippi College in 1929 and a Master of Theology degree in 1938 from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. He did additional graduate work at George Peabody College, Eastern Theological Seminary, and the Chaplain's school at Harvard University.
Ordained to the ministry in 1923, Dr. Davis served as pastor in several rural Mississippi churches until 1935 when he accepted a pastorate in Baltimore, Maryland. From 1937 until 1957, he served in churches in Springfield, Tennessee ( 1938- 1942), Clinton, Kentucky ( 1946- 1948), Hollandale, Mississippi ( 1948- 1951), and Flora, Mississippi ( 1951- 1957). From 1942 until 1946, Davis served in the United States Army Chaplain's Corps.
In 1957 Dr. Davis became president of the Mississippi Baptist Seminary and served until his retirement in 1971. He is also a former president of both the Mississippi Baptist Convention Board and the Board of Trustees of the Mississippi Baptist Seminary. He has also served as secretary and director of the Mississippi Baptist Convention Board's department of work with National ( Negro) Baptists.
In 1966 Dr. Davis was awarded the Lane Bryant Foundation's distinguished community service citation, and in 1965 he received both the South Mississippi Baptist Convention citation for meritorious service and the distinguished service citation of the Federation of Colored Women of Mississippi.
Dr. Davis is married to the former Virgie B. Goodson and they live in Jackson, Mississippi.
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