Lewis, Walter Oliver Papers

File

Identifier: RG-1592

Staff Only

Dates

Creation: 1906-1962

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research. Unpublished manuscripts are protected by copyright. Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository and copyright holder. Staff may refuse copying of fragile or at-risk materials.

Materials may be accessed by request at the American Baptist Historical Society. For more information on accessing collections or obtaining copies, visit http://abhsarchives.org.

Biographical / Historical

Walter Oliver Lewis was born in Stanberry, Missouri on February 22, 1877. He earned a B.A. degree from William Jewell College, Liberty, Missouri, in 1898. In 1904, he receive a Th.D. Degree from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, and in 1908, he earned a Ph.D. degree from the University of Erlangen, Germany. Lewis was ordained as a Southern Baptist pastor in 1897. Until 1910, he served as pastor for the following churches: West Park Church, St. Louis, Missouri; Wyatt Park Church, St. Joseph, Missouri; and Compton Heights Church, St. Louis. From 1910-1922, he served as Professor of Philosophy and Religion at William Jewell College. Lewis served as the European representative of the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society from 1922-1939. In 1939, he became General Secretary of the Baptist World Alliance, a position he held until 1950. He was Associate Secretary of the Alliance from 1950-1955 and died in August 1965.

Biography courtesy of Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives.