Bartow Davis Ragsdale Papers

Collection

Identifier: MU-PP-0102

Staff Only

Bartow D. Ragsdale Collection Finding Aid

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Scope and Contents

Box 1 contains correspondence, account papers, and Bursar records. Box 2 contains speeches, sermons, and other materials related to his work in the Baptist denomination. Box 3 contains copper plate lithographs used in the printing of The Story of Georgia Baptists.

Dates

Creation: 1886-1958
Creation: Majority of material found within 1910-1938

Rights Statement

To quote in print, or otherwise reproduce in whole or in part in any publication, including on the World Wide Web, any material from this collection, the researcher must obtain permission from (1) the owner of the physical property and (2) the holder of the copyright. Persons wishing to quote from this collection should consult the reference archivist to determine copyright holders for information in this collection. Reproduction of any item must contain the complete citation to the original.

Biographical / Historical

Bartow Davis Ragsdale was born in DeKalb County on February 7, 1861. He earned both the A.B. (1886) and the A.M. (1892) from Mercer University and married Lois Cloud in 1889. The couple had two children. Ragsdale pastored Baptist churches in Albany, Quitman, Cairo, Decatur, Lithonia, Conyers, Canton, and Locust Grove. He conducted Bible Institutes across the state during the 1890s. President P. D. Pollock then tapped him to occupy the Chair of English Bible at Mercer, and Ragsdale went on to serve as treasurer of the university from 1914 to 1928. He also served as Recording Secretary of the Georgia Baptist Convention for 49 years. His most lasting contribution to Georgia Baptist life was his work, The Story of Georgia Baptists. He died on July 18, 1944, in Atlanta.