Samuel D. Proctor – 1921- May 1997

As a student in seminary at Howard University, a historically Black College and University, I was introduced to what Evans Crawford would call the “presiding images” of Black preachers. Whether through their tapes, writings, professors’ accolades, oral commentaries, or in person, these images cast a vision of the preacher that is very difficult to dismiss. This month I want to feature one such preacher – Dr. Samuel D. Proctor.

Next month, May 2011 will mark the 14th anniversary of the death of one of the truly great heroes of the preaching arena in the person of Samuel D. Proctor. Throughout his life, Proctor was considered among the top 10 preachers in this country and was probably most remembered as a mentor and friend of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Proctor’s contribution to the American quilt can best be chronicled in four distinctive categories:

1. The Preaching Factor

Proctor was and is considered to be one of the most avid students of preaching and is best remembered for the “Proctorian” model of sermon preparation. His preference for sermon preparation was that of the dialectic found in the writings of philosopher, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1779-1831), the thesis and antithesis. Proctor raised this use of opposites to a higher level to include the synthesis. Most Black preachers today favor this form of preparation, including Martin Luther King, Jr. and Vernon Johns.

Dr. Proctor’s contribution to the perfection of preaching is well-documented. In a Foreword to the book, Samuel Proctor: My Moral Odyssey, Bill Moyers fondly spoke of Proctor in this way, “The first time I saw him, he was speaking. The last time I saw him, he was speaking…actually, Sam does not just speak. He preaches. Oh, my, how he preaches. He is a born preacher. And I am certain that when the Pearly Gates swing open and Sam strides through them to claim his richly deserved crown, the first question he will put to Saint Peter will be: “Where’s the pulpit?”¹

2. The Preeminent Floridian

Dr. Proctor was born in Jacksonville, Florida, one of six sons of a textile salesman and a housewife. Raised in Norfolk, Va., he studied at Virginia Union University in Richmond, the University of Pennsylvania, Crozer Theological Seminary, and Yale Divinity School and received a doctorate in theology in 1950 from Boston University. He was ordained in 1943 and went on to hold various posts in education, including the presidency of Virginia Union University, and administrative posts with the National Council of Churches, the Peace Corps in Nigeria and Washington, and the Office of Economic Opportunity and elsewhere, before going to the Abyssinian Baptist Church.

But Proctor’s contribution to the State of Florida is certainly unequalled.

Proctor arrived at the University of Florida as a freshman in 1937 and received his Bachelor of Arts in 1941. As an undergraduate, he was on the staff of the Florida Alligator. He received his Master of Arts from UF in 1942 after only two semesters, in which he wrote a 560-page thesis on Florida Governor Napoleon Bonaparte Broward. Here are some of his legacies to Florida and the University of Florida:

• After returning from the service in 1946, he was offered scholarships to pursue an international law degree at Yale and Ohio State. However, he instead decided to return to the University of Florida.
• In 1953, Proctor was appointed the first University of Florida’s Historian and Archivist and commissioned to write a book on UF history in honor of the university’s 100th anniversary. The resulting work was submitted by Proctor as his dissertation, and he received his Ph.D. in 1958.
• He published a history of the university, A Pictorial History of the University of Florida, in 1986 with Langley Press.
• Proctor became a professor of history at UF and taught at the university for 50 years.
• Proctor founded the Oral History Program in 1967 (which is now one of the largest oral history programs in the United States) and was its director. The program was later renamed the Samuel Proctor Oral History Program in his honor.
• Proctor edited the journal, Florida Historical Quarterly for over 40 years. He held the titles of Julian C. Yonge Professor of Florida History and Distinguished Service Professor of History. He also held the post of Curator of History at the Florida Museum of Natural History and was the director of the Center for Florida Studies.
• Proctor is also recognized as having helped with the founding of the Center for Jewish Studies at UF.
• He was one of two academics to be on the 1998 Lakeland Ledger list of the "50 Most Important Floridians of the 20th Century," selected by a panel of distinguished Floridians.

3. The Model Clergy Person

Sam Proctor lived life as a clergyman with distinction. A well-known clergyman summarized the legacy of Proctor by citing four areas of excellence:

• Intellectual Excellence -- Proctor pushed not only for his own excellence, but also excellence in his students. As preachers, we must always strive to do the best we can intellectually. The Gospel we handle and the God we serve demand that we push for intellectual excellence.
• Cultural Relevance – Proctor was not seduced by the “prosperity” gospel approach to preaching that has become popular. His was a preaching that was grounded in the relevant and contemporary questions of the culture in which he lived. He insisted that preachers should not set aside the background when they preach, but they must use it to address the groups that they are called to preach.
• Spiritual Integrity – In the words of Mahalia Jackson, Proctor urged ministers to “live the life we sing about in our song,” and also demanded that preachers stop abusing the people and start being the first examples of the transformative power of God.
• Social Honesty – Proctor unapologetically pronounced God’s preferential option for the poor, and contended that when Black people are being disadvantaged, our preaching should address such injustices. But Proctor went further: he challenged parents to not shirk their responsibility to be held accountable for their side of the equation. Parents should do the best that they can within the context that they find themselves.

4. International Ambassador

Proctor considered the world to be his parish. Because of his quest for knowledge, study and lecture tours carried him to India and the Far East; Israel and the Middle East; Russia and Eastern Europe; Scandinavia and Western Europe; East, West and North Africa; New Zealand and the South Pacific; Canada and the Caribbean Islands.