{"id":13866,"date":"2014-06-15T23:02:32","date_gmt":"2014-06-16T04:02:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tngenweb.org\/whos-who\/?p=13866"},"modified":"2023-06-12T12:48:20","modified_gmt":"2023-06-12T17:48:20","slug":"boyd-richard-henry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tngenweb.org\/whos-who\/boyd-richard-henry\/","title":{"rendered":"BOYD, Richard Henry"},"content":{"rendered":"

Born in Slavery — Educated in the School of Adversity — Author — Founder of Baptist Publishing House — President of Penny Savings Bank — The Man of Action<\/em><\/p>\n

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\"BoydRichardHenry\"<\/a>The Reverend Richard Henry BOYD<\/strong>, of Nashville, Tennessee, is one of the most interesting personalities on the American continent, if not in the world. \u00a0He was born in Knox County, Mississippi, in 1846. \u00a0He was denied every opportunity to acquire any education and was regarded as little more than a beast of burden, nevertheless he emerged from a childhood of slavery into a manhood of independence; out of ignorance to the noble sphere of intellectual ambition and achievement. \u00a0He was twenty years old before he was allowed to open a book. \u00a0Freedom gave Mr. BOYD<\/strong> the opportunity he desired; for it removed this cruel restriction, and he set immediately to work, learning to read and write in a very short time, and this too, without the aid of a teacher.<\/p>\n

Mr. BOYD<\/strong> worked at manual labor each day, while he studied each night. This method was kept up until, at the age forty, he decided to enter Bishop College, Marshall, Texas, to prepare himself for the ministry, to which he felt divinely called. He spent only six months at Bishop, when poverty drove him away. \u00a0But BOYD’<\/strong>s soul was afire; his mind assimilated the contents of the best books readily. \u00a0“Self-improvement” became his motto, and it has made him one of the strong men of the times.<\/p>\n

Leaving Bishop College, Mr. BOYD<\/strong> accepted a large pastorate in the State, and while so occupied made it one of the most useful to every phase of denominational work.<\/p>\n

Mr. BOYD<\/strong> first came into prominence as a national character when the National Baptist Convention convened in Kansas City, Missouri, in the fall of 1898. \u00a0He conceived the idea of having the National Baptist Convention convened in Kansas City, Missouri, in the fall of 1898. \u00a0He conceived the idea of having the National Baptist Convention found a publishing house, not only to furnish literature to the several thousand Sunday-schools of the connection, but to give employment to hundreds of worthy young men and women in the various departments of the institution as well as to illustrate the capabilities of the Negro. \u00a0The resolution passed amidst a storm of excitement, with Boyd occupying the center of the stage.<\/p>\n

Mr. BOYD<\/strong> went to Nashville, surrounded himself with such men as C.H. CLARK and J.P. ROBINSON<\/strong>, and began actively to plan for the largest Negro publishing concern in the world. \u00a0When the first literature came out, it was called “Negro Backs”; so called because the plates used in making up the forms were furnished by the Southern Baptist Convention Publishing House. \u00a0But BOYD<\/strong> was not to be discouraged. \u00a0While others laughed his efforts to scorn, he worked the harder, and God has rewarded his efforts with a plant now valued at $400,000 which employs more than 150 persons. \u00a0As corresponding secretary of the National Baptist Publishing Board, Mr. BOYD<\/strong> has rendered greater service to the denomination than any other. \u00a0He has given prestige to the Board at home and abroad, and has been the means of bringing about cooperation in missionary work between the Southern and the National Baptist Convention.Through him several business enterprises, aside from the denominational work in which he is engaged, have been formed. \u00a0Among them is the Nashville One Cent Savings Bank, of which he is president, and through whose efforts it has become one of the strongest in Nashville.<\/p>\n

Mr. BOYD<\/strong> is vice-president of the Negro National Business League and president of a local league. \u00a0He is a high Mason and connected with the fraternal order of United Brothers of Friendship and the Immaculates. \u00a0Doctor BOYD<\/strong> is author of several books and pamphlets dealing with Sunday school work and methods. \u00a0Among them may be mentioned:<\/p>\n