William Jernagin facts for kids

William Henry Jernagin (born October 13, 1869 – died February 18, 1958) was an important African-American Baptist pastor. He was a key leader in the early Civil rights movement (1896–1954) and also worked for Pan-African rights, which means he supported the idea of a united and strong Africa and people of African descent worldwide.

In 1919, a group called the National Race Congress chose Jernagin to attend two important meetings: the Paris Peace Conference and the First Pan-African Congress.

Early Life

William Henry Jernagin was born in Mashulaville, Mississippi, on October 13, 1869. His parents, Allen Fletcher Jernagin and Julia Ruth Walker, were mostly unable to read or write. However, they managed to get a small 40-acre farm. On their farm, they grew different fruits and vegetables.

His family also worked for Juke Jernagin, who used to own slaves. They mainly harvested apples and peaches. When they weren't busy planting or harvesting, William went to public schools. These schools were in Noxubee and Lauderdale Counties. Some of the schools he attended were Meridian Academy, Alcorn A&M College, and Jackson College. He also took classes from the American Correspondence School in Danville, New York.

First Steps as a Leader

After teaching in Lauderdale County for about five years, Jernagin was given permission to preach by the Bush Fork Baptist Church in Mississippi. In 1892, when he was 23, he became a pastor. He was asked to preach at several Baptist churches in Mississippi. These included New Prospect Baptist Church in Meridian, Mount Moriah Baptist Church, and Scooba Baptist Church in Okolona.

The year 1896 was very busy for Jernagin. He worked to bring many churches together. Some of these were Missionary Union Baptist Church, First Baptist Church in Winona, and Tabernacle Baptist Church in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. During this year, he started Mississippi's Meridian Baptist Seminary. This was one of the first schools for African Americans east of the Mississippi River. It helped set a standard for African-American Baptist pastors. He also became the president of the Oklahoma General Baptist Convention. He helped create the Winona-Granada Baptist College and organized the Young People's Christian Educational Congress of Mississippi.

In 1905, Jernagin was appointed to the Tabernacle Baptist Church. This move brought him to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. He had achieved many things for the church and was a well-liked pastor across Mississippi. An article in the Oklahoma Safeguard on July 6, 1905, described him: "The installation of Reverend W.H. Jernagin as pastor of the Tabernacle Baptist Church... was pulled off last Sunday in good shape. Rev. Jernagin... looked as though he was old Pope Leo."

He was the pastor at Tabernacle for nine years. He used his position and influence within the National Baptist Convention (NBC) to address problems across the state and country. These problems were related to Jim Crow policies, which were unfair laws that kept Black people separate and unequal. With help from others, Jernagin formed the State Constitutional League of Oklahoma. Their goal was to "secure the manhood rights of the race [sic] in concert with rights anticipated by other Americans." Jernagin even spoke in court against Oklahoma and Indian territories joining the United States. He argued that this would make Jim Crow laws even stronger. A local lawyer, William Harrison, helped the State Constitutional League take a case to the United States Supreme Court. This case focused on the Interstate Passenger Law. Harrison believed that winning this case would end all "Jim Crowism" for people traveling between states.

Move to Washington, D.C.

In 1912, Reverend Jernagin was asked to serve at the Mount Carmel Baptist Church in Washington, D.C.. Even though he moved, his influence in Oklahoma continued. On November 16, 1912, The Washington Bee, an important African-American newspaper in Washington, D.C., wrote about his new role: "[Jernagin] is a wide-awake man. He is an eloquent and logical speaker, and his people think the world of him... there has never been a man at this church who has ever been more honored and respected than [Jernagin]... it is quite evident... that his administration will be a success." He served the Mount Carmel church and the wider D.C. community for 46 years until his death in 1958.

During his first few years in Washington, D.C., Jernagin's importance in the National Baptist Convention grew. His influence in the community also increased as he met and worked with key people. These included The Washington Bee publisher William Calvin Chase, activist and newspaper editor William Monroe Trotter, fellow Baptist Reverend Walter Henderson Brooks, educator Nannie Helen Burroughs, and clubwoman Mary Church Terrell. These people helped Jernagin become involved in groups and issues that fought for civil and human rights. They also gave him many ways to address the racial and religious problems he cared about.

Attending the Pan-African Congress (1919, 1921)

After World War I ended, Jernagin's voice became even stronger. His roles in groups like the National Baptist Convention and the National Race Conference helped him connect his Christian beliefs with his fight for Black rights around the world.

As president of the National Race Conference (NRC), Jernagin traveled to Europe. He went to the Pan-African Congress (PAC) as a representative for the NRC. He missed the first day but was there for the main meeting. He saw the nine-point resolution that was released on March 29, 1919. This resolution called for immediate steps to help the 200 million people of African descent. It suggested that the League of Nations should create a special office to oversee laws for their well-being. It also demanded that people in Africa and of African descent be governed fairly, focusing on land, work, education, and health.

While in Paris, France, Jernagin also visited some Black troops. In an article published in the Kansas City Advocate on May 2, 1919, he reported on the poor treatment some soldiers received. He said that white officers brought their racial prejudice to France. But he also praised the soldiers: "But I thank God I am able to say to you that in the face of all this our boys discharged their duty and are war heroes." Jernagin later attended the Pan-African Congress again in 1921, which was held in London, England.

In 1920, after the Paris Peace Conference, Jernagin and the NRC welcomed the President-elect C. D. B. King of Liberia. The NRC promised to support the Liberian people, calling Liberia a "Sister Republic." Jernagin's involvement with the PAC and the international friendships he made showed his strong dedication. He worked to end colonial rule, racial discrimination, and unfair power in Africa and the Caribbean. He also demanded basic human rights and equal chances for everyone.

Involvement with the National Fraternal Council of Negro Churches

The National Fraternal Council of Negro Churches (NFCNC) was created in 1933. Bishop Reverdy C. Ransom asked Black ministers to meet and discuss forming an organization. This group would be like a Federal Council of Churches, but focused on African Americans. The first meeting of the NFCNC was held at Mount Carmel Church. Ransom said the group was formed because Black people needed a strong voice on social, economic, and political issues. He believed a united Black church could best provide this voice.

Jernagin was the NFCNC's president from 1938 to 1939. He also served as the Council's chair from 1940 to 1945 and again from 1952 to 1958. He created the Washington Bureau Committee, which was a part of the NFCNC. This bureau later became separate from the main organization. Jernagin left his position at the Washington Bureau due to disagreements, but he became the chair of the NFCNC again in 1952. He held this position until he died six years later. With both the Washington Bureau and the main committee under his control, Jernagin was essentially the NFCNC.

Jernagin's Washington Bureau met and corresponded with presidents from Roosevelt to Eisenhower. They spoke before committees in the House and Senate on many important issues. These included fair employment practices, anti-lynching laws, ending poll taxes, desegregating travel, and civil rights for Washington, D.C. They also worked on the 1957 Civil Rights Act. Jernagin's Washington Bureau was the main voice of the Black church in the fight for civil rights.

Death and Legacy

Reverend William Jernagin died on February 18, 1958, while on vacation in Miami, Florida. After his death, the Baltimore Afro-American newspaper reported: "A positive leader [is] one who takes a firm stand and does not equivocate. For years [Jernagin] has been recognized as the 'watchdog of the race' at the Nation's capital."

Many important people spoke about Jernagin's life and what he left behind. These included Martin Luther King Jr., Mordecai Johnson, E. Pauline Myers, and Andrew Fowler. Martin Luther King Jr. said, "[Jernagin] has given to the Baptist youth of America a leadership which will long be recorded in the annals of history. He has inspired thousands of young men and women. I will always remember the encouragement that he has given me." Myers remembered, "There was no vain gloriousness [sic] about him. The common people loved him for he was one of them himself." Jernagin's legacy shows how faith and the fight for civil rights can bring about positive change and important discussions.

Quotes

I shall speak far less, I trust, as a Negro than as a representative of the Christian Church whose duty it is to uphold the Christian ideals and to work for their realization with the belief that the conventions and customs of society can be changed by the persistent pressure of Christian influences. As churchmen, we have respect for government and believe that reasonable, intelligent administration can achieve results 'if the spirit is right.' At this hour of crisis the church is concerned specifically with economic distress which deepens as the world crisis develops. When the war ends jobs will disappear for from one to twenty million workers in war production in [America]. It is needless to say, minority groups will suffer most due to manpower surplus. There is no hatred and strife bitter than that which can come when people of different races compete for too little food and too few jobs. We would be morally derelict in our Christian duty if we failed to call attention to the unethical basis of an order which permits this kind of distress to continue. The church must exert its influence to eliminate the causes of economic distress and also to help to set in motion those administrative and legislative measures which must be taken as a preliminary to the establishment of a just social and economic system.

—(excerpt from) William Henry Jernagin's testimony before the Subcommittee of the Committee on Education and Labor in the U.S. Senate pushing for the passage of the Fair Employment Practices Act.

Nothing suits the devil more than when a strong man decides that he is going to give up the fight. I am not going to give up. I am going to ask God for more faith and fight for the thing that is right regardless to whom may differ. I have stood alone in a number of things but I have seen them come to pass. It is when we are willing to stand alone when God comes to our rescue.

—William Henry Jernagin, in a letter to Benjamin Mays on February 17, 1951.

In this age, we must be aggressive or perish. We must be progressive, and we must seize every lawful opportunity to sustain ourselves as individuals and sustain ourselves as a Race. The leaders of our race should collaborate on the best possible means for obtaining the unity and harmony that will result in an outstanding success. Progress should be the password and by word of every Negro. It is his salvation in a chaotic and war-torn world.

—William Henry Jernagin, in a newspaper article titled "Aggressive or Perish" (presently a news clipping contained within the Mount Carmel Baptist Church Archives (MCBCA))

What the color[ed] man will be in this country depends not on what others may do for him, but what he does for himself, and it is time we were doing something.

—William Henry Jernagin, in a call for a Colored Conference to be held at Mount Carmel in September 1916.

So long as we have the badge in our faces, and centuries will pass before we lose that, if ever, we shall remind mankind of that lowly state from which we have, through the mercy of God, had opportunity to rise…Race progress must be built upon racial self-respect. But racial self-respect cannot be built upon anything but racial history.

—William Henry Jernagin, in his Emancipation celebration address "New Freedom", January 1, 1934.

There have been 3 great emancipations—That of the body, that of the mind, such as come from schooling and finally that of the spirit when we know we are free of fear because we know the eternal truth which is God revealed through Jesus Christ…God is not mocked, neither will He keep his anger forever, and as we arrive at the full stature of citizenship and the knowledge of the privilege and duties of the suffrage we shall assume that right and its obligations as is being gradually proven in every section of this land

—William Henry Jernagin, in his Emancipation celebration address "New Freedom", January 1, 1934.

Texts

• Jernagin, W. H., A. H. Waters, & L. T. Gordon (1930), "Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History Held in Washington D.C., October 27–31, 1929", in The Journal of Negro History, Vol. 15, No. 1 (January 1930), pp. 1–13.