William Louis Poteat
Encyclopedia
William Louis Poteat also known as "Doctor Billy", was a professor (c. 1880-1905) and then the seventh president (1905-1927) of Wake Forest College (today, Wake Forest University). Poteat was conspicuous in many civic roles becoming a leader of the Progressive Movement in the South, and a champion of higher education. A devout Baptist, he defended the teaching of evolution as the "divine method of creation", arguing it was fully compatible with Baptist beliefs.
to a noted Baptist
, slave-owning family, Poteat went on to graduate with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Wake Forest College (then located in Wake Forest, North Carolina
) in 1877. Shortly after graduating, he was hired by his alma mater as a natural science instructor.
concepts of natural selection and evolution. Poteat reconciled the contradictions he found between these notions and his Christian outlook. His beliefs were not shared by many conservative Baptists, who tried to remove him. Poteat fought back and survived, and helped persuade the North Carolina General Assembly
to defeat a bill that would have banned the teaching of evolution (as other states had done; see Scopes Monkey Trial).
Biography
Born in Caswell County, North CarolinaCaswell County, North Carolina
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 23,501 people, 8,670 households, and 6,398 families residing in the county. The population density was 55 people per square mile . There were 9,601 housing units at an average density of 23 per square mile...
to a noted Baptist
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...
, slave-owning family, Poteat went on to graduate with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Wake Forest College (then located in Wake Forest, North Carolina
Wake Forest, North Carolina
Wake Forest is a town and suburb of Raleigh, North Carolina in Wake County in the U.S. state of North Carolina and is located just north of the state capital, Raleigh. The population was 12,588 at the 2000 census. In 2009, the estimated population was 27,915...
) in 1877. Shortly after graduating, he was hired by his alma mater as a natural science instructor.
Evolution
He taught himself biology (with which he had little previous experience) and his studies led him to discover DarwinianCharles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
concepts of natural selection and evolution. Poteat reconciled the contradictions he found between these notions and his Christian outlook. His beliefs were not shared by many conservative Baptists, who tried to remove him. Poteat fought back and survived, and helped persuade the North Carolina General Assembly
North Carolina General Assembly
The North Carolina General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of North Carolina. The General Assembly drafts and legislates the state laws of North Carolina, also known as the General Statutes...
to defeat a bill that would have banned the teaching of evolution (as other states had done; see Scopes Monkey Trial).
Further reading
- Suzanne Cameron Linder. William Louis Poteat: Prophet of Progress (1966), the standard scholarly biography
- Woodard, John R. "Poteat, William Louis," *in William S. Powell, ed. Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, vol 5 (1994)