Dates: 1935; 1957-1986.
Originals in boxes 3, 4, and 5 are restricted; reference photocopies in boxes 1 and 2 must be used instead.

Biography:

William Bryan Selah 

William Bryan Selah was born on February 17, 1896, in Sedalia, Missouri. When Selah was five weeks old, his parents died, and he and his twin sister were adopted by separate families. Selah was raised by a family friend, a widow named Mrs. Selah. William Bryan Selah received a bachelor’s degree in 1921 from Central Methodist College of Fayette, Missouri, and then attended Kansas City School of Law in Kansas City, Missouri. After college, he taught history and English in Paris, Missouri. Selah also attended Yale Divinity School in New Haven, Connecticut, for two years and received an honorary Doctorate of Divinity from Central Methodist College in 1935. In 1959, Selah was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree (L. L. D.) from Millsaps College, Jackson, Hinds County, Mississippi.

William Bryan Selah served his first pastorate in Clinton, Missouri, between 1923 and 1927. In 1927, he returned to Fayette, Missouri, to become pastor of the Central College Methodist Church, a position he held until 1932. In 1932, Selah accepted the pastorate of Central Methodist Church of Kansas City, Missouri. He was appointed to St. John’s Methodist Church in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1937. By 1941, he was the head of St. Luke’s Methodist Church of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and served there until 1945, when he was appointed to Galloway Memorial United Methodist Church in Jackson, Hinds County, Mississippi. The church was the largest Methodist church in the state. Selah became the longest-serving pastor in Mississippi, occupying the post for eighteen years.

Selah was considered a moderate voice in racial politics because he advocated integration of public places and encouraged discussions between city and Civil Rights Movement leaders to minimize conflicts between the races. Selah preached his beliefs from the pulpit and before the governing bodies of the Methodist Church. He publicly endorsed the “Born of Conviction” article written by twenty-eight Mississippi ministers for the Mississippi Christian Advocate. The statement placed strong emphasis on four points: support for integration was not support for communism; the policy of the Methodist Church did not permit racial discrimination; freedom of expression in sermons; and support of public schools. Bishop Marvin Franklin, the leader of the Methodist Church in Mississippi, did not respond to the statement; this failure divided congregations throughout the state.

On June 9, 1963, five African Americans attempted to enter Galloway Memorial United Methodist Church and were turned away by church officials known by the congregation as “bouncers” or the “color guard.” Selah, who was in the pulpit at the time of the incident, addressed the congregation claiming that the policy of exclusion ran counter to the teachings of the United Methodist Church. He then asked the bishop for another assignment. Selah’s associate pastor, Jerry Furr, also gave his resignation and was reassigned to Arizona.

Selah took several months off before he accepted the position of vice president of Central Methodist College, his alma mater. The position required him to preach in Methodist churches in Missouri and to speak to various church groups on behalf of the college. Selah retired and moved to Huntsville, Alabama, in 1984.

William Bryan Selah married Naomi Willis in Kansas City, Missouri, on September 12, 1922. They had three children: Frances Jeanette Selah Bullard, (b. August 11, 1923), Charles Edward Selah (b. November 8, 1927), and William Bryan Selah, Jr. (b. December 12, 1929). Frances Jeanette Selah Bullard died on February 24, 1974, at the age of fifty. Naomi Willis Selah died on November 17, 1994, in Huntsville, Alabama.

William Bryan Selah died on May 14, 1985, at the age of eighty-nine. He was buried in the Huntsville Memory Garden.

 
Scope and Content Note:

The William Bryan Selah scrapbooks consist of newsclippings, correspondence, printed materials, and writings documenting the support of his resignation from the pastorate of Galloway Memorial United Methodist Church of Jackson, Mississippi. Of interest are the editorials of Richard Sellars, a member of Galloway, defending Selah’s actions to the Southern press, and sermons from Selah offering his position on political topics of the day such as the closure of public schools and Christian opposition to Communism.

 
Series Identification:

Series 1: Scrapbooks. June 10, 1963 - January 21, 1986; n.d. 3 boxes, 1 folder.

This series consists of two scrapbooks containing letters concerning the aftermath of Selah’s resignation from Galloway Memorial United Methodist Church. The letters were written by fellow ministers, Galloway congregation members, acquaintances, and the general public, expressing their agreement with the positions of William Bryan Selah and Jerry Furr and delivering best wishes.

Box 1, folders 1-2 (reference photocopy)
Box 2, folder 1
Box 3 (restricted original)
Box 4 (restricted original)

 

Series 2: Correspondence. 1963-1966; n.d. 8 folders.

This series contains both incoming and outgoing correspondence and telegrams. The telegrams document praise from pastors and laymen from places such as Syracuse, New York; Nashville, Tennessee; and Portland, Oregon. The incoming correspondence from individuals and groups, such as the Missouri West Conference of the Methodist Church, and the Mississippi Commission on Education, also give support to Selah’s stance. The outgoing correspondence of Selah contains letters to William H. Neely of Jackson, a member of Galloway, and Bishop W. C. Martin of Dallas, Texas. In both letters, Selah shares his apprehension about his new position in Missouri and expresses his belief that segregation should “stop at the steps of the church.”

Box 2, folders 2-8 (reference photocopy)
Box 5, folder 4 (restricted originals)

 

Series 3: Printed Materials. 1935; 1963-1965; n.d. 1 box, 10 folders.

This series is comprised of clippings, bulletins, articles, and magazines from various sources in the United States that document the events surrounding the resignations of Selah and Furr. The series contains articles with interviews of Selah about his resignation and its aftermath, and an article written for the Atlantic Monthly titled, “Must We Hate?” by Archibald MacLeish. Also included is an article from the Methodist magazine The Interpreter describing a charity event called “One Great Hour of Sharing.” Selah instituted the event during his tenure at Galloway, and was still participating in it in 1979. In addition, there are two magazines, the Christian Advocate, and The Christian Education Magazine, published in 1935, and church bulletins from various churches that Selah visited, such as St. Paul’s Methodist Church in Niagara Falls, New York, and Walpes Memorial Methodist Church in Denison, Texas.

Box 2, folders 14-17
Box 2, folders 11-13 (reference photocopies)
Box 5, folders 1-3 (restricted originals)

 

Series 4: Writings. 1962; n.d. 2 folders.

This series is composed of editorial letters, speeches, and a speech draft, concerning Selah and segregation. The letters were written by Richard Sellars, a member of Galloway Memorial United Methodist Church, expressing his support of Selah and his opposition to segregation in the church. Sellars sent his editorial to the (Jackson) Clarion-Ledger, (Memphis) Commercial Appeal, and the (New Orleans) Times-Picayune. The series also includes speeches by Selah that document his position on topics such as school integration and the riot on the University of Mississippi’s campus after the enrollment of James Meredith, as well as a draft of the comments Selah made to the Galloway congregation upon his resignation.

Box 2, folders 9-10

 

Box List:

  • Box 1, folder 1: Scrapbooks, 1963, n.d. (reference photocopy)
  • Box 1, folder 2: Scrapbooks, 1963-1986, n.d. (reference photocopy)
  • Box 2, folder 1: Scrapbooks, 1963, n.d.
  • Box 2, folders 2-8: Correspondence, 1963-1966; n.d.
  • Box 2, folders 9-10: Writings, 1962; n.d.
  • Box 2, folder 11-13: Printed Materials, 1963-1965; n.d. (reference photocopies)
  • Box 2, folders 14-17: Printed Materials, 1935; 1963; 1965; n.d.
  • Box 3: Scrapbook, 1963. (restricted original)
  • Box 4: Scrapbook, 1963-1986, n.d. (restricted original)
  • Box 5, folders 1-3: Printed Materials, 1963-1964; n.d. (restricted originals)
  • Box 5, folder 4: Correspondence, 1963. (restricted originals)