Monroe E. Dodd
Encyclopedia
Monroe Elmon Dodd, Sr. was an American Southern Baptist clergyman who was a pioneer radio
preacher, the pastor of the First Baptist
Church of Shreveport, Louisiana
, the founder of the former Dodd College for Girls, and served as the Southern Baptist Convention
President from 1934-1935. He is also considered the father of the Southern Baptist Convention
Cooperative Program for foreign missions.
, the seat of Gibson County, Tennessee
, located between Memphis
and Nashville
. He was named in part for his paternal grandfather, James Monroe Dodd. As a youth, Monroe plowed with a three-yoke team of oxen on the family farm. Gibson County was recognized nationally in the late 19th century for its innovative use of new farm equipment. William Dodd was among the area farmers moving into the new age of agriculture. When he was thirteen, Dodd got into trouble, was whipped by his father, and ran away from home. He went first to Dyersburg
in northwestern Tennessee, where he boarded a freight train headed to Paducah
, Kentucky
. He soon returned home.
Dodd's mother was active in the Primitive Baptist
faith and provided a home atmosphere with prayer
s and Bible
readings. While attending school in Brazil, Dodd was converted to Christianity
and joined the Poplar Grove Baptist Church, having been baptized
on August 12, 1892. He intended to become a lawyer
but was soon called to the ministry after the death of Allen Dodd, his younger brother. Allen confessed to Monroe: "The Lord has called both of us to be preachers, but now you will have to heed the 'call'"
In 1904, Dodd received both his Bachelor of Arts
and Bachelor of Divinity
degrees from Union University
, a Baptist-affiliated institution in Jackson, Tennessee
, the seat of Madison County. From the same university, he received a doctor of divinity
degree in 1909 and, fulfilling his first childhood inclination, an LL.D. degree in 1930. He obtained a second doctor of divinity degree from Baptist-affiliated Baylor University
in Waco, Texas
, in 1918. He also did correspondence work through the University of Chicago
and the Crozer Theological Seminary
in Upland
, Pennsylvania
, near Chester
.
Dodd served in the Spanish-American War
in 1898.
, Paducah (where he had run away to as a boy), and Louisville
, Kentucky, and Los Angeles
, prior to accepting the position in Shreveport. He was an officer of the Foreign, Home, and State mission boards, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
in Louisville, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
in Fort Worth
, and the "75 Million Campaign" to reach the unchurched. That effort, established in 1925, is now known as the "Cooperative Program". Dodd served as a president of the Louisiana Baptist Convention
and the Southern Baptist Convention
and was a member of the executive committee of the Baptist World Alliance
.
He began preaching on radio from Shreveport when the new medium first appeared in the 1920s. At the time, he was the First Baptist pastor, holding pulpit duties from 1912-1950. He also opened Dodd College
. For a year he hired future Louisiana Governor James Houston "Jimmie" Davis
, a graduate of Baptist-affiliated Louisiana College
in Pineville
, as an instructor of history
. Dodd wrote fourteen books.
The Southern Baptist Convention offers the M.E. Dodd Cooperative Program Award, which recognizes individuals who have demonstrated continuous excellence in supporting missions at home and abroad through the SBC. Carlisle Driggers, the executive director/treasurer of the South Carolina
Baptist Convention, won the M. E. Dodd award in 2006. The award is a bronze
sculpture of a sower scattering seed
around the world.
Dodd is interred in Shreveport's Forest Park Cemetery off St. Vincent Avenue.
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
preacher, the pastor of the First Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
Church of Shreveport, Louisiana
Shreveport, Louisiana
Shreveport is the third largest city in Louisiana. It is the principal city of the fourth largest metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana and is the 109th-largest city in the United States....
, the founder of the former Dodd College for Girls, and served as the Southern Baptist Convention
Southern Baptist Convention
The Southern Baptist Convention is a United States-based Christian denomination. It is the world's largest Baptist denomination and the largest Protestant body in the United States, with over 16 million members...
President from 1934-1935. He is also considered the father of the Southern Baptist Convention
Southern Baptist Convention
The Southern Baptist Convention is a United States-based Christian denomination. It is the world's largest Baptist denomination and the largest Protestant body in the United States, with over 16 million members...
Cooperative Program for foreign missions.
Early years
Dodd was born to William Henry Dodd and the former Lucy Williams in Brazil, a community ten miles east of TrentonTrenton, Tennessee
Trenton is a city in Gibson County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 4,264 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Gibson County, and its third largest city.-Geography:Trenton is located at ....
, the seat of Gibson County, Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
, located between Memphis
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
and Nashville
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
. He was named in part for his paternal grandfather, James Monroe Dodd. As a youth, Monroe plowed with a three-yoke team of oxen on the family farm. Gibson County was recognized nationally in the late 19th century for its innovative use of new farm equipment. William Dodd was among the area farmers moving into the new age of agriculture. When he was thirteen, Dodd got into trouble, was whipped by his father, and ran away from home. He went first to Dyersburg
Dyersburg, Tennessee
Dyersburg is a city in and the county seat of Dyer County, Tennessee, United States, north-northeast of Memphis on the Forked Deer River. The population was 17,145 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Dyersburg is located at...
in northwestern Tennessee, where he boarded a freight train headed to Paducah
Paducah, Kentucky
Paducah is the largest city in Kentucky's Jackson Purchase Region and the county seat of McCracken County, Kentucky, United States. It is located at the confluence of the Tennessee River and the Ohio River, halfway between the metropolitan areas of St. Louis, Missouri, to the west and Nashville,...
, Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
. He soon returned home.
Dodd's mother was active in the Primitive Baptist
Primitive Baptist
Primitive Baptists, also known as Hard Shell Baptists or Anti-Mission Baptists, are conservative, Calvinist Baptists adhering to beliefs that formed out of the controversy among Baptists in the early 1800’s over the appropriateness of mission boards, bible tract societies, and temperance...
faith and provided a home atmosphere with prayer
Prayer
Prayer is a form of religious practice that seeks to activate a volitional rapport to a deity through deliberate practice. Prayer may be either individual or communal and take place in public or in private. It may involve the use of words or song. When language is used, prayer may take the form of...
s and Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
readings. While attending school in Brazil, Dodd was converted to Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
and joined the Poplar Grove Baptist Church, having been baptized
Baptism
In Christianity, baptism is for the majority the rite of admission , almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally and also membership of a particular church tradition...
on August 12, 1892. He intended to become a lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
but was soon called to the ministry after the death of Allen Dodd, his younger brother. Allen confessed to Monroe: "The Lord has called both of us to be preachers, but now you will have to heed the 'call'"
In 1904, Dodd received both his 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...
and Bachelor of Divinity
Bachelor of Divinity
In Western universities, a Bachelor of Divinity is usually an undergraduate academic degree awarded for a course taken in the study of divinity or related disciplines, such as theology or, rarely, religious studies....
degrees from Union University
Union University
Union University is a private, evangelical Christian, liberal arts university located in Jackson, Tennessee, with additional campuses in Germantown, Tennessee, and Hendersonville, Tennessee...
, a Baptist-affiliated institution in Jackson, Tennessee
Jackson, Tennessee
Jackson is a city in Madison County, Tennessee, United States. The total population was 65,211 at the 2010 census. Jackson is the primary city of the Jackson, Tennessee metropolitan area, which is included in the Jackson-Humboldt, Tennessee Combined Statistical Area...
, the seat of Madison County. From the same university, he received a doctor of divinity
Doctor of Divinity
Doctor of Divinity is an advanced academic degree in divinity. Historically, it identified one who had been licensed by a university to teach Christian theology or related religious subjects....
degree in 1909 and, fulfilling his first childhood inclination, an LL.D. degree in 1930. He obtained a second doctor of divinity degree from Baptist-affiliated Baylor University
Baylor University
Baylor University is a private, Christian university located in Waco, Texas. Founded in 1845, Baylor is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.-History:...
in Waco, Texas
Waco, Texas
Waco is a city in and the county seat of McLennan County, Texas. Situated along the Brazos River and on the I-35 corridor, halfway between Dallas and Austin, it is the economic, cultural, and academic center of the 'Heart of Texas' region....
, in 1918. He also did correspondence work through the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
and the Crozer Theological Seminary
Crozer Theological Seminary
The Crozer Theological Seminary was a multi-denominational religious institution located in Upland, Pennsylvania. The school succeeded a Normal School established at the site and the building's use as a hospital during the American Civil War...
in Upland
Upland, Pennsylvania
Upland is a borough in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. Upland is governed by an elected seven member borough council. The population was 2,977 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Upland is located at ....
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, near Chester
Chester, Pennsylvania
Chester is a city in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States, with a population of 33,972 at the 2010 census. Chester is situated on the Delaware River, between the cities of Philadelphia and Wilmington, Delaware.- History :...
.
Dodd served in the Spanish-American War
Spanish-American War
The Spanish–American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence...
in 1898.
Ministerial work
Dodd was the pastor of churches in FultonFulton, Kentucky
Fulton is a city in Fulton County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 2,775 at the 2000 census. It was once known as the "Banana Capital of the World" because 70% of imported bananas to the U.S. used to be shipped there . U.S...
, Paducah (where he had run away to as a boy), and Louisville
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
, Kentucky, and Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, prior to accepting the position in Shreveport. He was an officer of the Foreign, Home, and State mission boards, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary , located in Louisville, Kentucky, is the oldest of the six seminaries affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention . The seminary was founded in 1859, at Greenville, South Carolina. After being closed during the Civil War, it moved in 1877 to Louisville...
in Louisville, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, is a private, non-profit institution of higher education, associated with the Southern Baptist Convention...
in Fort Worth
Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth is the 16th-largest city in the United States of America and the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas. Located in North Central Texas, just southeast of the Texas Panhandle, the city is a cultural gateway into the American West and covers nearly in Tarrant, Parker, Denton, and...
, and the "75 Million Campaign" to reach the unchurched. That effort, established in 1925, is now known as the "Cooperative Program". Dodd served as a president of the Louisiana Baptist Convention
Louisiana Baptist Convention
The Louisiana Baptist Convention is an association of Baptist churches in the U.S. state of Louisiana. Affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention, the Convention is composed of approximately 1,595 member congregations representing 869,490 members ....
and the Southern Baptist Convention
Southern Baptist Convention
The Southern Baptist Convention is a United States-based Christian denomination. It is the world's largest Baptist denomination and the largest Protestant body in the United States, with over 16 million members...
and was a member of the executive committee of the Baptist World Alliance
Baptist World Alliance
The Baptist World Alliance is a worldwide alliance of Baptist churches and organizations, formed in 1905 at Exeter Hall in London during the first Baptist World Congress.-History:...
.
He began preaching on radio from Shreveport when the new medium first appeared in the 1920s. At the time, he was the First Baptist pastor, holding pulpit duties from 1912-1950. He also opened Dodd College
Dodd College
Dodd College was an all female student private junior college in Shreveport, Louisiana founded by Monroe E. Dodd a baptist minister.It was opened in 1927 and closed in 1942....
. For a year he hired future Louisiana Governor James Houston "Jimmie" Davis
Jimmie Davis
James Houston Davis , better known as Jimmie Davis, was a noted singer of both sacred and popular songs who served two nonconsecutive terms as the 47th Governor of Louisiana...
, a graduate of Baptist-affiliated Louisiana College
Louisiana College
Louisiana College is a private institution of higher education located in Pineville, Louisiana, affiliated with the Louisiana Baptist Convention, serving a student body of approximately 1,300 students. The college operates on a semester system, with two shorter summer terms...
in Pineville
Pineville, Louisiana
Pineville is a city in Rapides Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is adjacent to the city of Alexandria, and is part of that city's Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 13,829 at the 2000 census....
, as an instructor of history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
. Dodd wrote fourteen books.
Death and legacy
On October 10, 1904, Dodd married the former Emma Savage, the daughter of Dr. and Mrs. George M. Savage of Jackson, Tennessee. They had four daughters and a son: Dorothy, Helen, Martha, Monroe E. Dodd, Jr. (born 1910), and Frances.The Southern Baptist Convention offers the M.E. Dodd Cooperative Program Award, which recognizes individuals who have demonstrated continuous excellence in supporting missions at home and abroad through the SBC. Carlisle Driggers, the executive director/treasurer of the South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
Baptist Convention, won the M. E. Dodd award in 2006. The award is a bronze
Bronze
Bronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive. It is hard and brittle, and it was particularly significant in antiquity, so much so that the Bronze Age was named after the metal...
sculpture of a sower scattering seed
Seed
A seed is a small embryonic plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat, usually with some stored food. It is the product of the ripened ovule of gymnosperm and angiosperm plants which occurs after fertilization and some growth within the mother plant...
around the world.
See Also
- Southern Baptist Convention PresidentsSouthern Baptist Convention PresidentsThe President of the Southern Baptist Convention heads the denomination and is elected at the yearly convention. The term is for one year, and a candidate can serve a maximum of two consecutive terms.-See also:...
- List of Southern Baptist Convention affiliated people