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George Alexander Sewell

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George Alexander Sewell
Atlanta Daily World, Atlanta, Georgia, June 14, 1958
Born(1910-10-12)October 12, 1910
Newnan, Georgia
DiedSeptember 26, 1983(1983-09-26) (aged 72)
Atlanta, Georgia
Occupation(s)Professor, college dean, AME pastor, author, historian
Notable workMississippi Black History Makers (1977)

Dr. George Alexander Sewell (October 12, 1910 – September 26, 1983) was a teacher, professor, university administrator, pastor, historian, and author who worked in Florida, Georgia, and Mississippi in the United States. He served as the dean of Turner Theological Seminary at Morris Brown College in Georgia, and as the dean of social sciences at Alcorn State University in Mississippi. In addition to his work as a teacher and college administrator, he was simultaneously a pastor, serving throughout his life as a minister and elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Dr. Sewell wrote newspaper columns for the Atlanta Daily World, and published two collections of sermons. In 1977, after retiring from Alcorn, he completed writing and published the still-in-print and highly regarded biographical dictionary Mississippi Black History Makers. He also wrote the major history of Morris Brown College, which was published shortly after his death in 1983.

Biography

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Sewell was born 1910 in Newnan, Georgia.[1][2] He went to Booker T. Washington High School, graduating in 1930,[3] and earned an A.B. degree from Morris Brown College in 1934.[1] He established its student newspaper the Wolverine Observer.[1] Sewell worked his way through college as a steam-press operator, a skill that he had learned from his father.[4]

He later earned bachelor of sacred theology (BST) and master of sacred theology degrees (MST) from Boston University in 1944 and 1946, and an IL.D. from Monrovia College in 1955.[1] Between degrees he wrote a weekly column called "Dots and Dashes" for the Atlanta Daily World newspaper.[3] He earned a Ph.D. from Boston University in 1957.[1] His Ph.D. was in New Testament Literature and Interpretation.[3]

He began his career as principal-teacher in the junior high school of Jackson County, Florida, serving 1934 to 1942.[1] He worked simultaneously as a minister.[5] He later worked as college minister at Morris Brown, LeMoyne College in Memphis, and Arkansas State College at Pine Bluff.[1] He was part of the A.M.E. Church. He served on the church's General Conference Commission and was secretary of its General Board of Education.[6][7] Over his career he held the pastorate at St. Andrew's Methodist in Worcester, Massachusetts; Trinity A.M.E. in Atlanta; Gaines Chapel A.M.E. in Waycross, Georgia, and Steward Chapel A.M.E. in Macon.[1] He was the dean of Turner Theological Seminary at Morris Brown in the 1950s and 1960s.[8]

In 1961 Dr. Sewell was appointed dean of social sciences and became a professor at Alcorn State University, a historically black college or university (HBCU) in Mississippi.[9][4] He taught there for 13 years.[9] Simultaneously, he served as pastor for a series of Mississippi churches: Pearl Street A.M.E. in Jackson, the church in Port Gibson, and nine years as the pastor of Vicksburg A.M.E. Church.[9][4] While resident in Mississippi, he served on the Mississippi Historic Preservation Professional Review Board,[10] the Vicksburg Community Council, the Human Relations Council, the Advisory Board of the Vicksburg Housing Authority, and was a member of the Warren County Ministerial Association.[11]

While resident in Mississippi, Sewell started researching notable Black people of Mississippi in libraries at Tougaloo College and Louisiana State University, as well as by making visits to sources in Holly Springs, Greenville, Yazoo City, et al. Sewell conducted interviews throughout the state, and then edited and rewrote the resulting accounts with support from a "federal research training grant."[9] The first edition of his book Mississippi Black History Makers, published in 1977, contained 37 chapters recounting 50 historical biographies.[9] Sewell wrote about Black politicians beginning during Reconstruction, religious leaders, writers, athletes, teachers, musicians, businesspeople, and writers.[12] According to Margaret Dwight, who wrote the preface to the revised second edition of Mississippi Black History Makers, "Dr. Sewell began the project in the early 1970s when he was a distinguished professor of sociology at Alcorn State University."[13] Longtime Memphis Commercial-Appeal history columnist Paul R. Coppock wrote that "Each public school and each library in Memphis and Mississippi ought to have a copy" of Mississippi Black History Makers.[14] Sewell also wrote magazine articles, published collected sermons, and spent his last years researching and writing a history of Morris Brown.[11]

Sewell died at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta in 1983.[15] The funeral was held at Flipper Temple AME Church in Atlanta.[11]

Historiography

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The Atlanta University Center's Robert W. Woodruff Library has a collection of photographs and documents related to Sewell.[5]

Writings

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  • Mississippi Black History Makers (1977)[16] Rev. ed. (1984) sponsored by Alcorn State, revised edition co-edited with Margaret L. Dwight, published by the University of Mississippi[17]
  • Morris Brown College: The First 100 Years[18]
  • A Motif for Living (1963)[19]
  • Where Are You Going? (1983)[20]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h "Dr. Sewell, Men's Day Speaker at Beulah". Atlanta Daily World. June 14, 1958. p. 3. Retrieved 2025-03-03.
  2. ^ "Entry for George Alexander Sewell and James Otis Sewell, 16 Oct 1940". Florida, World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1940–1945. FamilySearch.
  3. ^ a b c "Rev. Sewell Completes Work for Doctorate Degree". Atlanta Daily World. July 27, 1952. p. 5. Retrieved 2025-03-04.
  4. ^ a b c Howard, Sit (1976). "Returns to Georgia".
  5. ^ a b "George A. Sewell Papers, Photographs". Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library. June 27, 2019.
  6. ^ "George A. Sewell | University Press of Mississippi". www.upress.state.ms.us. Archived from the original on 2024-06-21. Retrieved 2025-03-03.
  7. ^ "Photographs dating from 1905 to 1971 documenting the life of African American professor, pastor, author, and Morris Brown graduate George Alexander Sewell". Digital Library of Georgia.
  8. ^ "Dr. Sewell". The Detroit Tribune. July 22, 1961. p. 3. Retrieved 2025-03-03.
  9. ^ a b c d e Mitchell, Charlie (October 23, 1977). "'Mississippi Blacks at the Bottom of the Heap' George Sewell Thinks Not". The Vicksburg Post – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "Sewell Named to Historic Board". Clarion-Ledger. February 13, 1975 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ a b c "Dr. George A. Sewell Dies". The Vicksburg Post. October 7, 1983 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ Sewell, George A. (February 27, 1972). "Mississippi Black History Shows Many Accomplishments". The Vicksburg Post – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ Sewell, George A.; Dwight, Margaret L. (2012). Mississippi Black History Makers (Rev. ed.). Jackson: University Press of Mississippi. p. 12. ISBN 978-1-61703-428-2.
  14. ^ "Mid-South Memoirs—Black History in Mississippi by Paul R. Coppock". The Commercial Appeal. December 4, 1977. p. 113. Retrieved 2025-03-03.
  15. ^ "SEWELL". The Atlanta Constitution. September 27, 1983. p. 33. Retrieved 2025-03-03.
  16. ^ Sewell, George Alexander (March 3, 1977). Mississippi Black History Makers. University Press of Mississippi. ISBN 978-0-87805-040-6 – via Google Books.
  17. ^ Sewell, George Alexander; Dwight, Margaret L. (March 3, 1984). Mississippi Black History Makers. Univ. Press of Mississippi. ISBN 978-1-61703-428-2 – via Google Books.
  18. ^ "Mrs. Lillie W. Sewell". The Atlanta Journal. January 6, 1985. p. 23. Retrieved 2025-03-03.
  19. ^ Logan, B. H. (December 7, 1963). "The Church World". New Pittsburgh Courier – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ^ "Where Are You Going". The Vicksburg Post. January 7, 1984 – via Newspapers.com.
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