Story+ Project

Preaching and Protest: Sermons from Duke Chapel during the Civil Rights Era

(2018)

Story+ | Preaching and Protest: Sermons from Duke Chapel during the Civil Rights Era

Story+ Preaching and Protest investigated the relationship between the regular activity of Sunday morning preaching with the extraordinary public protest and social change between February 1, 1960 (the Greensboro, NC lunch counter sit in) and July 2, 1964 (the passage of the Civil Rights Act). Students worked with and researched the sermonic contents of the Duke Chapel Recordings Digital Collection during this timeframe in order to reveal the (dis)connections of the contents with significant local and national activities, including campus and community protests, and local and national news reports. From this research, students created a dynamic digital timeline and exhibition drawn from their study and these resources.

Project Sponsor(s): 

Rev. Luke A. Powery, Dean of Duke University Chapel and Associate Professor of Homiletics at Duke Divinity School

Graduate Mentor(s): 

Peace Lee, PhD Candidate in Homiletics, Duke Divinity School

Undergraduates: 

Sonja Andrews (MA Student)

Elizabeth Grantland, Naomi Lilly, Brennen Neeley

Outcome: 

quote
Example of race relations in Sunday sermons: excerpt from Creighton Lacy sermon on January 7, 1962, entitled “Therefore Choose Life.”

 

The team researched how preaching in Duke Chapel during the 1960s intersected with the public protest and social change of that era. You can view the 92 sermons they analyzed and more at .

 

Duke University Chapel

Topic(s)

  • Public Humanities
  • Civil Rights
  • Archives
  • History

Skills required

  • Audio & Video Editing
  • Collaborative Work
  • Working with Primary Sources & Archival Research