Timothy Lawrence Smith | |
|---|---|
| Born | April 13, 1924 South Carolina |
| Died | January 20, 1997 West Palm Beach, Florida |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation(s) | Historian, Educator |
| Known for | First American Evangelical Historian to become notable in research and higher education |
Timothy Lawrence Smith (April 13, 1924 – January 20, 1997) was ahistorian and educator, known as the first Americanevangelical historian to gain notoriety[verification needed] in research and higher education.
Smith was born April 13, 1924[1] inCentral, South Carolina,[2] the son ofNazarene ministers.[3] He earned hisbachelor's andmaster's degrees[4] from theUniversity of Virginia, where he was aJefferson Scholar andPhi Beta Kappa student, and hisdoctoral degree in history fromHarvard University[2] underArthur M. Schlesinger, Sr.[5][6]
He has been described as "the first evangelical historian in the U.S. to make it in thesecularresearch university."[7]
Smith began his teaching career at theEastern Nazarene College (ENC) in 1949 and left in 1954 to take a position atEast Texas State University.[8] During his time at ENC, he was the first director of Quincy School Department-sponsored College Courses, Inc., after which fellow Eastern Nazarene history professorCharles W. Akers transformed it intoQuincy Junior College and served as its first full-time director.[8] He later went on the teach at theUniversity of Minnesota before becoming director of the American Religious History doctoral program[9] and Chair of the Education Department at theJohns Hopkins University,[7][10] where he taught for 25 years.[7]
Smith received numerous awards and honors, and served as president of both theAmerican Society of Church History,[4] and the Society of Religious Historians.[2] He was also an ordained elder in theChurch of the Nazarene, and pastored churches inMassachusetts,Maine, andColorado.[7]
A prolific author who published in nearly every historical journal, Smith's best-known and most-praised work is his 1957 bookRevivalism and Social Reform,[11] formed from his dissertation fromHarvard,[5] which received the Brewer prize from the American Society of Church History.[2] Smith also wrote a history of theChurch of the Nazarene,Called Unto Holiness, which Smith considered his most outstanding accomplishment.[7]
Smith retired toBurke, Virginia but died at age 72 inWest Palm Beach, Florida on January 20, 1997, after severalstrokes.[2]
The Wesleyan Theological Society atNorthwest Nazarene University established a book award in honor of Smith andMildred Bangs Wynkoop in 1999, and presents an award annually.[12] The 2008 recipient of the award,Randall J. Stephens, currently teaches at theEastern Nazarene College, as well.[13]
