Alexander Preston Shaw (April 8, 1879 – March 7, 1966) was notable as an

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

pastor A pastor (abbreviated to "Ps","Pr", "Pstr.", "Ptr." or "Psa" (both singular), or "Ps" (plural)) is the leader of a Christianity, Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutherani ...

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, organization, a ...

, and

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

of the

Methodist Episcopal Church The Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC) was the oldest and largest Methodist denomination in the United States from its founding in 1784 until 1939. It was also the first religious denomination in the US to organize itself nationally. In 1939, th ...

and the

Methodist Church Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

. He was elected and

consecrated Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects (a ...

to the

episcopacy A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of dioceses. The role ...

in 1936. Shaw held the distinction of being the first

bishop of the Methodist Church (at the age of 71) to preside full-time over a predominantly white Annual Conference: the

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

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Conference (in 1950, coincidentally the 100th annual meeting of this body), which met that year at the

University of Redlands The University of Redlands is a private university in Redlands, California, United States. The university's main, residential campus is situated on 160 acres (65 ha) near downtown Redlands. An additional eight regional locations throughout Calif ...

Birth and family

Alexander was born 18 April 1879 in

Abbeville Abbeville (; ; ) is a commune in the Somme department and in Hauts-de-France region in northern France. It is the of one of the arrondissements of Somme. Located on the river Somme, it was the capital of Ponthieu. Geography Location A ...

in northern

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

. He was the eighth of eleven children of the Reverend Duncan Preston and Maria (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Petty) Shaw. Alexander's parents were ex-slaves; his father also an

ordained minister In Christianity, a minister is a person authorised by a church or other religious organization to perform functions such as teaching of beliefs; leading services such as weddings, baptisms or funerals; or otherwise providing spiritual guidance ...

in the Methodist Episcopal Church, as was Alexander's elder brother, J. Beverly F. Shaw. Alexander married Lottye Blanche Simon March 29, 1911. They had children Alexander Preston Jr., Bernard Johnson,

twins Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of Twin Last Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two e ...

Lena Anita and Bessie Elaine, Helen Marguerite, and Wilbur Allen.

Education

Alexander Sr. earned the A.B. degree from

Rust College Rust College is a private historically black college in Holly Springs, Mississippi. Founded in 1866, it is the second-oldest private college in the state. Affiliated with the United Methodist Church, it is one of ten historically black colleges ...

in 1902. He then earned the B.D. degree from

Gammon Theological Seminary The Interdenominational Theological Center (ITC) is a consortium of five predominantly African-American denominational Christian seminaries in Atlanta, Georgia, operating together as a professional graduate school of theology. It is the largest ...

in 1906. He also did

graduate work Graduate may refer to: Education * The subject of a graduation, i.e. someone awarded an academic degree ** Alumni, a former student who has either attended or graduated from an institution * High school graduate, someone who has completed high ...

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

Ordained and editorial ministry

Shaw originally planned a career as a public school

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

. But he was received on trial in 1908 by the

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Annual Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He was ordained an elder and received into full connection in 1910. Reverend Shaw distinguished himself as a pastor serving the following appointments:

Westminster, Maryland Westminster is a city in and the county seat of Carroll County, Maryland, United States. The city's population was 19,960 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Westminster is an outlying community in the Baltimore metropolitan area, whic ...

(1908–09);

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Harrisburg ( ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the seat of Dauphin County. With a population of 50,099 as of 2020, Harrisburg is the ninth-most populous city in Pennsylvania. It is the larger of the two pr ...

(1909–11);

Winchester, Virginia Winchester is the northwesternmost Administrative divisions of Virginia#Independent cities, independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. It is the county seat of Frederick County, Virginia, Frederi ...

(1911–15);

Little Rock, Arkansas Little Rock is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Arkansas, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The city's population was 202,591 as of the 2020 census. The six-county Central Arkan ...

(1915-17); and the Wesley

Chapel A chapel (from , a diminutive of ''cappa'', meaning "little cape") is a Christianity, Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. First, smaller spaces inside a church that have their o ...

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(1917–31). He also was a member of the 1928 General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Shaw also distinguished himself as the elected editor of the '' Southwestern Christian Advocate'', an important

periodical Periodical literature (singularly called a periodical publication or simply a periodical) consists of Publication, published works that appear in new releases on a regular schedule (''issues'' or ''numbers'', often numerically divided into annu ...

of his denomination. His term of service as editor lasted from 1931 until 1936, during which time he built up the paper from a circulation of about 5,000 to 9,000. Publication was headquartered in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

. He also contributed numerous articles on religious subjects to a variety of publications. Shaw also was a

Mason Mason may refer to: Occupations * Mason, brick mason, or bricklayer, a worker who lays bricks to assist in brickwork, or who lays any combination of stones, bricks, cinder blocks, or similar pieces * Stone mason, a craftsman in the stone-cutti ...

Episcopal ministry

Shaw was elected to the episcopacy of the Methodist Episcopal Church and consecrated a bishop (the highest office in the Methodist ministry) by the 1936 General Conference. Shaw was assigned to the

episcopal area An episcopal area in certain Methodist denominations, such as the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church (AMEZC) and United Methodist Church (UMC), is a basic unit of this denomination. It is a region presided over by a resident bishop that is ...

(1936–40), and then to the

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

Episcopal Area of the Central Jurisdiction of the

(1940–52). As resident bishop of the Baltimore Area, he served as the presiding bishop of the

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey ...

, East Tennessee,

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

, and

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

Annual Conferences of the Central Jurisdiction. These conferences together included some 1,300

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

Methodist churches and about 100,000 church members. Shaw also served on the so-called "Committee of Twenty-eight", the Board of Education, the Board of Missions, the Board of Temperance, and the Committee on

World Peace World peace is the concept of an ideal state of peace within and among all people and nations on Earth. Different cultures, religions, philosophies, and organizations have varying concepts on how such a state would come about. Various relig ...

. His office while bishop of the Baltimore Area was located at 1206 Etting Street, Baltimore 17. His home was at 828 North Carrollton Avenue, Baltimore.

As pastor/preacher

Described by ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' magazine (in its 26 June 1950 issue) as "tall" (6 ft 3 in; 190 cm), Shaw also was well-poised. When he was appointed to Winchester, Virginia, he found the second-floor ceiling of his parsonage too low for him. When he solved this problem by persuading his congregation to rent him another house, while leasing the parsonage "to a much shorter man", newspapers in the Washington and New York areas delightedly picked up the story, causing the Reverend Shaw "a good deal of embarrassment". Nevertheless, Shaw was a brilliant

preacher A preacher is a person who delivers sermons or homilies on religious topics to an assembly of people. Less common are preachers who Open-air preaching, preach on the street, or those whose message is not necessarily religious, but who preach com ...

. His specialty was his urgent appeal to youth. Speaking of the Wesley Chapel Methodist Episcopal Church in Los Angeles, the city's fifth largest, Shaw said, "My Church was not filled with bald-headed people. We had regularly as many as 200 to 300 youngsters attending services." Reportedly, he would occasionally bring an outstanding boy or girl into the

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, accesse ...

with him, to lecture on how the church could be made even more interesting to young people.

Advocate for his race

Shaw was also reported by ''Time'' magazine as "consistently advocat ngself-improvement and development for his race." This was distinguished from "the rough, wild way of pressure groups trying to stamp out anti-

Negro In the English language, the term ''negro'' (or sometimes ''negress'' for a female) is a term historically used to refer to people of Black people, Black African heritage. The term ''negro'' means the color black in Spanish and Portuguese (from ...

activities." Shaw held that "a sufficient amount of real excellence – as has been achieved by

Marian Anderson Marian Anderson (February 27, 1897April 8, 1993) was an American contralto. She performed a wide range of music, from opera to spirituals. Anderson performed with renowned orchestras in major concert and recital venues throughout the United S ...

and Dr. Carver and

Jackie Robinson Jack Roosevelt Robinson (January 31, 1919 – October 24, 1972) was an American professional baseball player who became the first Black American to play in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the modern era. Robinson broke the Baseball color line, ...

– is the surest way." Above all, said ''Time'', " ishop Shawbelieve that Negroes should observe the rule he himself has followed with such conspicuous success: ''take on responsibilities''." Said Shaw:

If you don't have responsibilities, you don't grow strong enough to handle them.

Honorary degrees

Shaw was honored by

Philander Smith College Philander Smith University (previously Philander Smith College) is a private historically black college in Little Rock, Arkansas. It is affiliated with the United Methodist Church and is a founding member of the United Negro College Fund (UNC ...

in 1916 with the

Doctor of Divinity A Doctor of Divinity (DD or DDiv; ) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity (academic discipline), divinity (i.e., Christian theology and Christian ministry, ministry or other theologies. The term is more common in the Englis ...

degree. Rust College did the same in 1920, as did Gammon Theological Seminary (

D.D. A Doctor of Divinity (DD or DDiv; ) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity (i.e., Christian theology and ministry or other theologies. The term is more common in the English-speaking world than elsewhere. In the United Kin ...

, 1924). Boston University awarded the D.D. in 1937. Rust College also awarded Shaw the

LL.D. A Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) is a doctoral degree in legal studies. The abbreviation LL.D. stands for ''Legum Doctor'', with the double “L” in the abbreviation referring to the early practice in the University of Cambridge to teach both canon law ...

in 1937.

Retirement, death and burial

Shaw

retired Retirement is the withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from one's active working life. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours or workload. Many people choose to retire when they are elderly or incapable of doing their j ...

in 1952 from the active episcopacy of the Methodist Church. He was, however, called out of

retirement Retirement is the withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from one's active working life. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours or workload. Many people choose to retire when they are elderly or incapable of doing their j ...

in 1953 to again serve part of the New Orleans Area following the death of Bishop Robert Nathaniel Brooks. Shaw served the rest of that quadrennium (1952–56) in this position. Shaw died on March 7, 1966. He is buried in

Selected writings

* ''Christianizing Race Relations'', 1928.

References

* Howell, Clinton T., ''Prominent Personalities in American Methodism'', Birmingham, Alabama: The Lowry Press, 1945. * "Take On Responsibilities", (article about Bishop Shaw) in ''Time'' magazine, June 26, 1950

* ''Who's Who in Methodism'', Dr. Elmer T. Clark, Editor-in-Chief, Chicago: The A. N. Marquis Co., 1952.