A Legacy of Faith, Formation & Leadership

Founded November 1884 as the Ministers' Institute at Mount Zion Baptist Church, Little Rock. Funded by the Colored Baptists of Arkansas. E.C. Morris serves as Chairman of the Board of Trustees.

April 1885: institution officially renamed Arkansas Baptist College. The only Baptist-affiliated HBCU west of the Mississippi River.

One year after graduating from Roger Williams University, Booker is hired as ABC's first president. He serves for 39 years until his death in 1926.

Charles Harrison Mason enrolls at Arkansas Baptist College on November 1, 1893. He transfers to the Minister's Institute program and graduates in 1895.

Elected the first president of the National Baptist Convention — the largest denomination of Black Christians in America. Holds the position for 27 years. By 1900 the NBC represented over 60% of African American churchgoers.

One of ABC's early female graduates. Relocates to Boston; founds a branch of Poro Beauty College in 1927 serving 150 students annually. Serves as an NAACP officer and board member for 50 years.

Son of the first ABC president. Completes law at Northwestern University (1917). Works alongside Thurgood Marshall on NAACP cases; serves as president of the National Bar Association (1949–1950).

WWII veteran who felt called to ministry during his service. Graduates ABC; elevated to COGIC Bishop (1974). First African American on the North Little Rock City Council. Inducted into the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame (2015).

Born 1936 in Columbia County, Arkansas. Pastors for 64 years across three states. In Philadelphia: helps break a 50-day teachers' strike (1981); co-founds the Black Clergy of Philadelphia, instrumental in electing the city's first Black mayor (1983); advises President Clinton. Vice President, National Baptist Convention USA, Inc.

ABC and Ouachita Baptist University graduate. Grows Greater Paradise Baptist Church (Little Rock) from 17 to 3,000 members. Moves to Beulah Missionary Baptist Church, Decatur, Georgia (1991), growing it to megachurch scale on a 40-acre campus. Honored with a U.S. postal stamp; Doctor of Humane Letters, ABC 2022.

Earns B.S. from Arkansas Baptist College. Serves 19 years as a Kansas City, Missouri Police Officer before entering full-time ministry (2013). Senior Pastor of Morning Star Baptist Church, Kansas City (since April 5, 1987). Previously served as an instructor at ABC.

President, Consolidated Missionary Baptist State Convention of Arkansas; Pastor, St. John Missionary Baptist Church, Little Rock. Honored among CMBSC 50-year pastoral honorees in 2018. His ministry represents the deep institutional covenant between ABC and the Black Baptist community in Arkansas.

Earns B.S. from ABC; later M.Div. from Virginia Union University. Returns to chair the Department of Religious Studies at ABC — the program elevated and renamed as the McKissic School of Christian Studies. One of the foundational architects of the school's academic infrastructure.

Graduates with a degree in Christian Theology. Elected Pastor of Saint Bethel Missionary Baptist Church, Pine Bluff (1999). Earns a Bachelor of Theology from Saint Thomas Christian University at age 79 in 2021 — embodying ABC's founding conviction of lifelong learning.

ABC alumnus, class of 2010. Earns M.Div. from Memphis Theological Seminary (2016, Summa Cum Laude) and D.Min. from Beeson Divinity School, Samford University (2021). Now serves as Associate Dean of the McKissic School and co-author of this Legacy Record.

Arkansas Baptist College awards the Doctor of Humane Letters to Rev. Jerry D. Black and to Rev. William Dwight McKissic, formally bonding the McKissic family name to the institution.

The Department of Religious Studies is formally elevated and renamed the James & Rosa McKissic School of Christian Studies at Arkansas Baptist College — the culmination of 140+ years of covenant history, ministry formation, and HBCU legacy. Legacy Record authored by Rev. Henry L. Parker, Jr. and Dr. Nathanael A. Palmer.