- This event has passed.
Howard Thurman’s Atlanta: Nonviolence, Civil Rights, and Mystical Thought
October 22, 2023 @ 3:00 pm - 4:30 pm EDT
The Baton Foundation will host a conversation about the role Atlanta played in the life and work of Howard Thurman. This program is free to the public, but registration is required.
About the Program
Using Peter Eisenstadt’s book, Against the Hounds of Hell: A Life of Howard Thurman (University of Virginia Press, 2021), as the backdrop, distinguished Howard Thurman scholars Luther E. Smith, Jr. (Emory Professor Emeritus) and Peter Eisenstadt, will engage each other in a conversation about Howard Thurman’s life and work in Atlanta.
An early pacifist and the first African American to meet Mahatma Gandhi, Reverend Thurman often is overlooked in the pages of history as a foundational proponent of nonviolent direct action. A nationally recognized human rights advocate, Thurman would serve as spiritual advisor to James Farmer and Pauli Murray (founding members of C.O.R.E.), Marian Wright Edelman (Children’s Defense Fund), Reverend Jesse Jackson, Vernon Jordan (National Urban League), Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and other civil rights activists.
Integral to Thurman’s development and to the trajectory of his career was the time he spent in Atlanta. From his years as a student at Morehouse College, his return to campus in 1928 for a dual appointment in religion and philosophy at Morehouse and Spelman Colleges, and decades of speaking engagements in the city, Atlanta figured prominently in his life. This program is designed to give the speakers great latitude to converse about Thurman’s life in Atlanta, his impact on the city and one of its most influential and beloved native sons.
About the Speakers
Peter Eisenstadt, Ph.D., was Associate Editor of the Howard Thurman Papers Project and is an affiliate member of the Clemson University history department. He is author of Rochdale Village: Robert Moses, 6,000 Families, and New York City’s Great Experiment in Integrated Housing.
Luther E. Smith, Jr., Ph.D., is Professor Emeritus of Church and Community, Candler School of Theology of Emory University (Atlanta, Georgia), at which he served on the faculty for thirty-five years.
While at Emory University, Dr. Smith served as president of the University Senate, president of the University’s Faculty Council, and as Candler’s Associate Dean for Faculty Development. Professor Smith writes and speaks extensively on issues of church and society, congregational renewal, meanings and dynamics of community, interfaith cooperation, Christian spirituality, and the thought of Howard Thurman. He is the author of Howard Thurman: The Mystic as Prophet, Intimacy and Mission: Intentional Community as Crucible for Radical Discipleship, and editor of Howard Thurman: Essential Writings. Dr. Smith is the Senior Advisory Editor for the five-volume papers project The Papers of Howard Washington Thurman (the second largest papers project on an African American). His book, Hope is Here! Spiritual Practices for Justice and Beloved Community, is being published by Westminster John Knox Press and will be released in November 2023.
In recognition of his scholarship, teaching, and community service, Dr. Smith has received numerous awards and professional accolades. He helped to found the International Community School and the Interfaith Children’s Movement, and currently serves as the coordinator for the Pan-Methodist Campaign for Children in Poverty.
Reverend Smith is an ordained minister of the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church. He lives in Stone Mountain, Georgia with his wife Helen. They have four children and five granddaughters.