Edmund C. Shaw was born December 17, 1912 in Somerville, MA to Edwin A. and Ethel H. (Sparrow) Shaw. He earned a B.A. (1935) and M.A. (1936) from Tufts University with a thesis on Visual Education. He then spent five years as a professor of education at Bacone College in Musgokee, Oklahoma and retained throughout his career a particular interest in Native American ministries. In 1941 he began as an assistant in the Department of Visual Aids of the Northern Baptist Convention. That Department grew into American Baptist Films and under Shaw's leadership developed a catalog of more than 200 film and filmstrip titles. During his tenure he and his wife, Helen (Detweiler), traveled to more than 75 countries filming educational material. He retired as director of American Baptist Films in 1977 and died in Ipswich, MA on January 15, 1999.