Manuscripts Department
Library of the University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill
SOUTHERN HISTORICAL COLLECTION

#4554
ROBERT E. SEYMOUR PAPERS
Inventory

Abstract:      Correspondence, sermons, writings, and other papers of Robert E. Seymour, pastor
            of the Binkley Memorial Baptist Church in Chapel Hill, N.C., 1959-1988. Seymour,
            considered somewhat of a maverick in Southern Baptist circles, was deeply involved
            in racial integration efforts in the 1960s and remained active thereafter in a
            great number of community organizations and causes.

Online Catalog Terms:
   Baptists--Clergy--History--20th century.
   Baptists--North Carolina--History--20th century.
   Binkley Memorial Baptist Church (Chapel Hill, N.C.).
   Chapel Hill (N.C.)--Social life and customs--20th century.
   Community life--North Carolina--History--20th century.
   Race relations--North Carolina--History--20th century.
   Seymour, Robert E., 1925- .

Size:          About 7,000 items (12.0 linear feet).

Dates:         1941-1997.

Provenance:    Received from Robert E. Seymour of Chapel Hill, N.C., in March 1990, October
               1991 (Acc. 91134), April 1992 (Acc. 92049), and July 1999 (Acc. 98401).

Access:            To be used only with special staff assistance.

Processing Note:   Full processing of this collection has been deferred pending expected
                   additions.


Related Collection:    Southern Oral History Program Collections, Interview C-20 (#4007).


Copyright: Retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as
           stipulated by United States copyright law.

Table of Contents:
   Biographical Note
   Description
   Additions

                                       BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

   Robert E. Seymour was born on 13 July 1925 in Greenwood, S.C. In deference to his father's
wishes, he started his studies atthe Citadel, but quickly switched to the Navy's pre-chaplaincy
program. He attended Newberry College for two years and then studied at Duke University, from
which he was graduated with a B.A. degree in 1945. He received a Masters of Divinity degree
from the Yale Divinity School in 1948 and a doctorate from the University of Edinburgh in
Scotland in 1955.

   In 1959, Seymour became the first minister of the Olin T. Binkley Memorial Baptist Church in
Chapel Hill, N.C. Before coming to Binkley, he was pastor of the Mars Hill Baptist Church in
Mars Hill, N.C.; pastor of the Warrenton Baptist Church in Warrenton, N.C.; and assistant
pastor of the Myers Park Baptist Church in Charlotte, N.C.

   The Olin T. Binkley Memorial Baptist Church started out with about 40 parishioners; services
were held in Gerrard Hall on the University of North Carolina campus. The establishment of the
Church coincided with the arrival of some of the first black students at the University. From
the beginning, Binkley had an open membership policy that sought to include not only all races,
but all Christians, including those who had not been baptized through immersion in water in
orthodox Baptist churches. This and other stances earned the Binkley Baptist Church and its
pastor reputations in the Southern Baptist Convention for being "uncooperative." Seymour
himself was frequently labeled a maverick for opposing the Baptist Church's move towards
conformity and for advocating racial integration.

   Under Seymour's leadership, the Binkley Baptist Church became involved in day care and
preschool programs, classes and services to older adults, and other community activities. He
also kept the Church active in both the Southern Baptist Convention and the more liberal
American Baptist Convention. At the time of his retirement in 1988, the Church had about 500
members.

   After his retirement, Seymour published two books: Whites Only: A Pastor's Restrospective on
Life in the New South in 1991 and Aging Without Apology in 1995. He is one of the writers of
the “Village Voices” column in the Chapel Hill News.

   Seymour participated in many community undertakings, including serving as the first
president of the Inter-Faith Council, a social services association of churches and synagogues
in the Chapel Hill/Carrboro area. He is married to Pearl Seymour and has a daughter named
Frances and a son named Robert III.

(Compiled from various newspaper and journal sources.)

                                          DESCRIPTION

   Chiefly correspondence, 1941-1988, largely consisting of incoming letters from friends,
family, and colleagues. Most letters are post-1959, when Seymour moved to the Binkley Baptist
Church. There are many letters from parishioners and others thanking Seymour for services
rendered. There are also letters containing invitations to conferences or requests for
services. There appear to be few letters dealing directly with church business or with the many
organizations and causes with which Seymour was affiliated.

   There is a series of typed copies and photocopies of outgoing letters, 1981-1988, some of
which appear to be related to incoming letters in the collection. Also included are photocopies
of selected pages from scrapbooks documenting Seymour's career from 1947 to his retirement in
1988.

Box 1-4        Incoming correspondence, 1941-1988
Box 4          Typed copies and photocopies of outgoing correspondence, 1981-1985
Box 5          Typed copies and photocopies of outgoing correspondence, 1986-1988
Box 5          Photocopies of selected scrapbook pages, 1947-1988


                            Addition of October 1991 (Acc. 91134)
Size:  3 items.
Dates: 1954; 1990.
Provenance:    Received from Robert E. Seymour in October 1991.
Description:
   Writings by Robert E. Seymour:
           John Gill, Baptist Theologian, 1697-1771, typescript.
                   Doctoral thesis at University of Edinburgh.
           “You Can't Hold Back the Spring” (1990), typescript.
                   Published in 1991 as Whites Only: A Pastor's
                   Restrospective on Life in the New South. The
                   typescript includes material that does not appear in
                   the printed version.
           Celebrating Christmas as Christians (1990), printed.
Filed in Box 5.

                             Addition of April 1992 (Acc. 92049)
Size:  2 items.
Dates: 1991-1992.
Provenance:    Received from Robert E. Seymour in April 1992.
Description:   Copy of Whites Only: A Pastor's Retrospective on
               Signs of the South (1991) by Seymour and a 1992
               review of the book from Baptists Today.
Filed in Box 5.

                              Addition of July 1999 (Acc. 98401)
Size:  About 1500 items.
Dates: 1940s-1997 and undated.
Provenance:    Received from Robert E. Seymour in July 1999.
Description:
Box 6      “Voices.” Columns from Chapel Hill News. (3 folders)
           Sermons, 1961-1984. (20 folders)
Box 7      Sermons, 1985-1988 and undated. (5 folders)
           Correspondence, 1940s-1950s. (6 folders)
           Correspondence, 1980s. (4 folders)
           Correspondence, 1990-1995. (8 folders)
Box 8      Correspondence, 1996-1997. (4 folders)
           Correspondence, Mars Hill Dismissal. (1 folder)
           Correspondence, Church Controversy. (1 folder)
           Correspondence, Aging without Apology. (1 folder)
           Correspondence, Whites Only. (2 folders)