Charles William Kerr
Encyclopedia
Charles William Kerr was a Moderator of the General Assembly
for the Presbyterian Church in the United States
, as well as the longtime pastor
of the First Presbyterian Church of Tulsa, Oklahoma
, the second largest Presbyterian church in the United States
. Kerr was the first permanent Protestant Christian pastor in Tulsa, arriving in 1900.
. The Kerrs were an old Scots Presbyterian
Lowland family who had immigrated to western Pennsylvania
in the 19th century.
Kerr graduated with a Bachelor of Arts
from Slippery Rock Normal Teachers College (now Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania
) in Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania
. He studied for the Presbyterian ministry at Western Theological Seminary in Allegheny, Pennsylvania
(a forerunner of the present Pittsburgh Theological Seminary
), then transferred to McCormick Theological Seminary
in Chicago
, Illinois, graduated in 1898 and was ordained.
On 6 September 1898, Kerr married Anna Elizabeth Coe, born on 6 April 1876. The Coes were Pennsylvania abolitionists who participated in the pre-Civil War
underground railway
to assist escaping slaves. On their wedding day Charles and Mrs. Kerr left Pennsylvania for Edmond, Oklahoma Territory
as Presbyterian missionaries to the Indians and freedmen (Blacks freed from slavery) living in what is now Oklahoma
. They had two children, Hawley and Margaret.
" to be pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in Tulsa, then a sleepy Creek Indian village in Indian Territory
at the crossing of the Frisco
and Midland Valley Railroad
tracks. His first church was a gothic
-styled clapboard
wooden church. Kerr was the first permanent Protestant Christian pastor in Tulsa, and the only one until the Baptists obtained a resident minister in 1906. As an early day missionary, Kerr frequently went to Tulsa's "skid row
" on First Street to pray, kneeling in the gutter with drunk cowboys on Friday and Saturday nights to lead them to Christ.
The 1901 discovery of crude oil
transformed Tulsa into a boomtown
— the "Oil Capital of the World" — as well as transforming the Kerr's original missionary vocation to Indians and Freedmen into the pastorate of an all-white church. Tulsa rapidly grew from a population of 600 to 72,000 by 1921: 60,000 whites and 12,000 Blacks. Tulsa's Black district was named "Greenwood
". Early on, Kerr made friends with the Black pastors in Greenwood, who were publicly disdained by Tulsa's other prominent white clergy.
On the afternoon and evening of May 30, 1921, a large crowd of white people began assembling outside of the Tulsa County Courthouse at 6th Street and Boulder Avenue. The size of the crowd was estimated at two thousand people. Many of these demanded that the sheriff turn over Dick Rowland
to them, clearly indicating that they intended to lynch the young man. The sheriff was determined to prevent a lynching and refused their demands. Instead, he and several armed deputies barricaded the building. In the early evening, the sheriff addressed the crowd and told them to go home.
Meanwhile, some of the black clergymen called Reverend Kerr on the telephone and asked for his assistance. After discussing the situation with his family, Kerr responded by going to the courthouse and pleading with the would-be lynch mob to go home. He was one of the very few civic leaders to do so. The mob ignored his plea and continued threatening to storm the building.
The next day, after armed whites invaded the Greenwood district, black clergymen again called Kerr for assistance. On his own, not waiting to meet with the church session (the governing body of any Presbyterian church), Kerr opened the church basement to temporarily house refugees from the violence.
, a Black man who was a gardener with two sons named Alexander and Rufus (common names in Greenwood):
Kerr often brought food and clothes to, prayed with, and found jobs for the many homeless people (Black, white, and Indian), living under Tulsa's 11th Street Bridge, forgotten by oil-rich Tulsans.
After the Dawes Act
of 1877 led to the Land Run of 1889
, Indians lost most of their territory to usurping Southern poor whites and the petroleum industry. Having personally witnessed Indians being swindled out of their lands and rights with whiskey, Kerr became the foremost temperance
crusader in Oklahoma.
Kerr's sense of social justice motivated him to sponsor an annual Labour Day
service for all trade union
members at Tulsa's First Presbyterian Church to encourage democratic unionism as a vehicle for needed social, economic, and political change. He opposed from his pulpit attempts by the local oilmen to bust unions.
Very evangelical
, Kerr held annual summer tent revival
s in the vacant lot next to the Tulsa County Courthouse. He brought guests speakers such as Billy Sunday
, William Jennings Bryan
, and Carrie Nation
to Tulsa. As a fellow temperance crusader, Nation frequently stayed with the Kerrs in their home, where she organised raids against the illegal sale of liquor in Tulsa.
of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America
.
Moderator of the General Assembly
The Moderator of the General Assembly is the chairperson of a General Assembly, the highest court of a presbyterian or reformed church. Kirk Sessions and Presbyteries may also style the chairperson as moderator....
for the Presbyterian Church in the United States
Presbyterian Church in the United States
The Presbyterian Church in the United States was a Protestant Christian denomination in the Southern and border states of the United States that existed from 1861 to 1983...
, as well as the longtime pastor
Pastor
The word pastor usually refers to an ordained leader of a Christian congregation. When used as an ecclesiastical styling or title, this role may be abbreviated to "Pr." or often "Ps"....
of the First Presbyterian Church of Tulsa, Oklahoma
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Tulsa is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 46th-largest city in the United States. With a population of 391,906 as of the 2010 census, it is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with 937,478 residents in the MSA and 988,454 in the CSA. Tulsa's...
, the second largest Presbyterian church in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Kerr was the first permanent Protestant Christian pastor in Tulsa, arriving in 1900.
Life and work
Kerr was born April 2, 1875 to Mr. and Mrs. T. A. Kerr in Slippery Rock, PennsylvaniaSlippery Rock, Pennsylvania
Slippery Rock is a borough in Butler County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 3,068 at the 2000 census. It is home to the Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania.-Geography:Slippery Rock is located at ....
. The Kerrs were an old Scots Presbyterian
Church of Scotland
The Church of Scotland, known informally by its Scots language name, the Kirk, is a Presbyterian church, decisively shaped by the Scottish Reformation....
Lowland family who had immigrated to western Pennsylvania
Western Pennsylvania
Western Pennsylvania consists of the western third of the state of Pennsylvania in the United States. Pittsburgh is the largest city in the region, with a metropolitan area population of about 2.4 million people, and serves as its economic and cultural center. Erie, Altoona, and Johnstown are its...
in the 19th century.
Kerr graduated with a Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
from Slippery Rock Normal Teachers College (now Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania
Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania
Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania is a public, master's-level university that offers some doctoral programs in cooperation with Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Both institutions are members of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education...
) in Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania
Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania
Slippery Rock is a borough in Butler County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 3,068 at the 2000 census. It is home to the Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania.-Geography:Slippery Rock is located at ....
. He studied for the Presbyterian ministry at Western Theological Seminary in Allegheny, Pennsylvania
Allegheny, Pennsylvania
Allegheny City was a Pennsylvania municipality located on the north side of the junction of the Allegheny and Ohio rivers, across from downtown Pittsburgh. It was annexed by Pittsburgh in 1907...
(a forerunner of the present Pittsburgh Theological Seminary
Pittsburgh Theological Seminary
Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, founded in 1794, is a graduate theological institution associated with the Presbyterian Church USA. It is located in the East Liberty neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA and houses one of the largest theological libraries in the nation...
), then transferred to McCormick Theological Seminary
McCormick Theological Seminary
McCormick Theological Seminary is one of eleven schools of theology of the Presbyterian Church . It shares a campus with the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, bordering the campus of the University of Chicago in Chicago, Illinois...
in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Illinois, graduated in 1898 and was ordained.
On 6 September 1898, Kerr married Anna Elizabeth Coe, born on 6 April 1876. The Coes were Pennsylvania abolitionists who participated in the pre-Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
underground railway
Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad was an informal network of secret routes and safe houses used by 19th-century black slaves in the United States to escape to free states and Canada with the aid of abolitionists and allies who were sympathetic to their cause. The term is also applied to the abolitionists,...
to assist escaping slaves. On their wedding day Charles and Mrs. Kerr left Pennsylvania for Edmond, Oklahoma Territory
Edmond, Oklahoma
Edmond is a city in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, United States, and a part of the Oklahoma City metropolitan area in the central part of the state. As of the 2010 census, the population was 81,405, making it the sixth largest city in the state of Oklahoma....
as Presbyterian missionaries to the Indians and freedmen (Blacks freed from slavery) living in what is now Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
. They had two children, Hawley and Margaret.
Move to Tulsa
On Saturday, 10 February 1900, Kerr said that he was "calledVocation
A vocation , is a term for an occupation to which a person is specially drawn or for which they are suited, trained or qualified. Though now often used in non-religious contexts, the meanings of the term originated in Christianity.-Senses:...
" to be pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in Tulsa, then a sleepy Creek Indian village in Indian Territory
Indian Territory
The Indian Territory, also known as the Indian Territories and the Indian Country, was land set aside within the United States for the settlement of American Indians...
at the crossing of the Frisco
St. Louis-San Francisco Railway
The St. Louis – San Francisco Railway , also known as the Frisco, was a railroad that operated in the Midwest and South Central U.S. from 1876 to 1980.-History:...
and Midland Valley Railroad
Midland Valley Railroad
The Midland Valley Railroad was incorporated in 1903 for the purpose of building a line from Hoye, Arkansas, through Muskogee and Tulsa, Oklahoma to Wichita, Kansas. The railroad took its name from Midland, Arkansas, a coal mining town in western Arkansas which was served by the railroad...
tracks. His first church was a gothic
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
-styled clapboard
Clapboard (architecture)
Clapboard, also known as bevel siding or lap siding or weather-board , is a board used typically for exterior horizontal siding that has one edge thicker than the other and where the board above laps over the one below...
wooden church. Kerr was the first permanent Protestant Christian pastor in Tulsa, and the only one until the Baptists obtained a resident minister in 1906. As an early day missionary, Kerr frequently went to Tulsa's "skid row
Skid row
A skid row or skid road is a run-down or dilapidated urban area with a large, impoverished population. The term originally referred literally to a path along which working men skidded logs. Its current sense appears to have originated in the Pacific Northwest...
" on First Street to pray, kneeling in the gutter with drunk cowboys on Friday and Saturday nights to lead them to Christ.
The 1901 discovery of crude oil
Petroleum
Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling...
transformed Tulsa into a boomtown
Boomtown
A boomtown is a community that experiences sudden and rapid population and economic growth. The growth is normally attributed to the nearby discovery of a precious resource such as gold, silver, or oil, although the term can also be applied to communities growing very rapidly for different reasons,...
— the "Oil Capital of the World" — as well as transforming the Kerr's original missionary vocation to Indians and Freedmen into the pastorate of an all-white church. Tulsa rapidly grew from a population of 600 to 72,000 by 1921: 60,000 whites and 12,000 Blacks. Tulsa's Black district was named "Greenwood
Greenwood, Tulsa, Oklahoma
Greenwood was a district in Tulsa, Oklahoma. As one of the most successful and wealthiest African American communities in the United States during the early 20th Century, it was popularly known as America's "Black Wall Street" until the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921...
". Early on, Kerr made friends with the Black pastors in Greenwood, who were publicly disdained by Tulsa's other prominent white clergy.
Reverend Kerr and the Tulsa Race Riot
(Main article) Tulsa Race RiotTulsa Race Riot
The Tulsa race riot was a large-scale racially motivated conflict, May 31 - June 1st 1921, between the white and black communities of Tulsa, Oklahoma, in which the wealthiest African-American community in the United States, the Greenwood District also known as 'The Negro Wall St' was burned to the...
On the afternoon and evening of May 30, 1921, a large crowd of white people began assembling outside of the Tulsa County Courthouse at 6th Street and Boulder Avenue. The size of the crowd was estimated at two thousand people. Many of these demanded that the sheriff turn over Dick Rowland
Dick Rowland
Dick Rowland was an African American teen-age shoeshiner whose arrest in May 1921 was the impetus for the Tulsa Race Riot. When he was arrested for attempted assault, Rowland was 19 years old. The white teenager, who was supposed to have been the victim, declined to prosecute...
to them, clearly indicating that they intended to lynch the young man. The sheriff was determined to prevent a lynching and refused their demands. Instead, he and several armed deputies barricaded the building. In the early evening, the sheriff addressed the crowd and told them to go home.
Meanwhile, some of the black clergymen called Reverend Kerr on the telephone and asked for his assistance. After discussing the situation with his family, Kerr responded by going to the courthouse and pleading with the would-be lynch mob to go home. He was one of the very few civic leaders to do so. The mob ignored his plea and continued threatening to storm the building.
The next day, after armed whites invaded the Greenwood district, black clergymen again called Kerr for assistance. On his own, not waiting to meet with the church session (the governing body of any Presbyterian church), Kerr opened the church basement to temporarily house refugees from the violence.
Anecdotal information
His favourite story as a guest preacher in Greenwood churches was that of the African, Simon of CyreneSimon of Cyrene
Simon of Cyrene was the man compelled by the Romans to carry the cross of Jesus as Jesus was taken to his crucifixion, according to all three Synoptic Gospels...
, a Black man who was a gardener with two sons named Alexander and Rufus (common names in Greenwood):
- Jesus was condemned by his own people. The sentenced was carried out by the Romans who represented white people. Representing all persons of African descent — past, present, and future, Simon of Cyrene was the only person in Jerusalem willing to help Jesus carry his Cross. As a result of the help given to Him by Simon of Cyrene, all people of African descent have a very special place in Jesus' heart: Now in Glory Jesus stands ready to reciprocate the help given to Him by Simon of Cyrene by answering their prayers. The ministry of service begun by Simon of Cyrene in helping Jesus carry his Cross to Calvary is continued by helping someone with a burden.
Kerr often brought food and clothes to, prayed with, and found jobs for the many homeless people (Black, white, and Indian), living under Tulsa's 11th Street Bridge, forgotten by oil-rich Tulsans.
After the Dawes Act
Dawes Act
The Dawes Act, adopted by Congress in 1887, authorized the President of the United States to survey Indian tribal land and divide the land into allotments for individual Indians. The Act was named for its sponsor, Senator Henry L. Dawes of Massachusetts. The Dawes Act was amended in 1891 and again...
of 1877 led to the Land Run of 1889
Land Run of 1889
The Oklahoma Land Rush of 1889 was the first land run into the Unassigned Lands and included all or part of the 2005 modern day Canadian, Cleveland, Kingfisher, Logan, Oklahoma, and Payne counties of the U.S. state of Oklahoma...
, Indians lost most of their territory to usurping Southern poor whites and the petroleum industry. Having personally witnessed Indians being swindled out of their lands and rights with whiskey, Kerr became the foremost temperance
Temperance movement
A temperance movement is a social movement urging reduced use of alcoholic beverages. Temperance movements may criticize excessive alcohol use, promote complete abstinence , or pressure the government to enact anti-alcohol legislation or complete prohibition of alcohol.-Temperance movement by...
crusader in Oklahoma.
Kerr's sense of social justice motivated him to sponsor an annual Labour Day
Labour Day
Labour Day or Labor Day is an annual holiday to celebrate the economic and social achievements of workers. Labour Day has its origins in the labour union movement, specifically the eight-hour day movement, which advocated eight hours for work, eight hours for recreation, and eight hours for...
service for all trade union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
members at Tulsa's First Presbyterian Church to encourage democratic unionism as a vehicle for needed social, economic, and political change. He opposed from his pulpit attempts by the local oilmen to bust unions.
Very evangelical
Evangelicalism
Evangelicalism is a Protestant Christian movement which began in Great Britain in the 1730s and gained popularity in the United States during the series of Great Awakenings of the 18th and 19th century.Its key commitments are:...
, Kerr held annual summer tent revival
Tent revival
A tent revival is a gathering of Christian worshipers in a tent erected specifically for revival meetings, healing crusades, and church rallies. Tent revivals have had both local and national ministries....
s in the vacant lot next to the Tulsa County Courthouse. He brought guests speakers such as Billy Sunday
Billy Sunday
William Ashley "Billy" Sunday was an American athlete who, after being a popular outfielder in baseball's National League during the 1880s, became the most celebrated and influential American evangelist during the first two decades of the 20th century.Born into poverty in Iowa, Sunday spent some...
, William Jennings Bryan
William Jennings Bryan
William Jennings Bryan was an American politician in the late-19th and early-20th centuries. He was a dominant force in the liberal wing of the Democratic Party, standing three times as its candidate for President of the United States...
, and Carrie Nation
Carrie Nation
Carrie Amelia Moore Nation was a member of the temperance movement, which opposed alcohol in pre-Prohibition America. She is particularly noteworthy for promoting her viewpoint through vandalism. On many occasions Nation would enter an alcohol-serving establishment and attack the bar with a hatchet...
to Tulsa. As a fellow temperance crusader, Nation frequently stayed with the Kerrs in their home, where she organised raids against the illegal sale of liquor in Tulsa.
Honors
In 1932, Kerr was elected ModeratorModerator of the General Assembly
The Moderator of the General Assembly is the chairperson of a General Assembly, the highest court of a presbyterian or reformed church. Kirk Sessions and Presbyteries may also style the chairperson as moderator....
of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America
Presbyterian Church in the United States of America
The Presbyterian Church in the United States of America was a Presbyterian denomination in the United States. It was organized in 1789 under the leadership of John Witherspoon in the wake of the American Revolution and existed until 1958 when it merged with the United Presbyterian Church of North...
.