King, Herman
Herman Leslie King was born September 3, 1907, in Summertown, Tennessee, the son of Sarah Emma Sadler and Ottice Raymond King, Sr. The family moved to Nashville, Tennessee, when King was 10 years old. Herman King graduated from Hume-Fogg High School and Belmont College in Nashville. He received an L.L.B. degree from Cumberland School of Law and a J.D. degree from Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama. He married Hazel Lee Davis in 1934, and they had one son, Carl Wayne King in 1941. Herman King served in the U.S. Army from 1944-1945. He worked as a grocery store clerk, railroad file clerk, radio repairman, and attorney at law. He served for 33 years as an employee at the Sunday School Board, SBC, serving as Superintendent of Extension Work, General Associate for Adult Work, and Superintendent of Sunday School Administration (1939-1958); as Executive Assistant to Dr. James L. Sullivan (1958-1961); Director of the Publishing Division (1961-1971); and Executive Assistant in the Executive Office (1971-1972). He retired in 1972. King was a member of Judson Baptist Church in Nashville, where he was baptized and ordained as a deacon in 1928. He also served as Chairman of the Deacons, Sunday School Director, chairman of numerous committees, and an usher. He was a trustee at Belmont College and served the Tennessee Baptist Convention as State Training Union President. He died March 11, 1997, in Nashville, Tennessee.
This oral history interview was conducted in Nashville, Tennessee, at the Sunday School Board, SBC, by Leonard Wedel, Manager of the Personnel Department at the Board, on August 25, 1972. In the interview, King describes how he came to the Board from practicing law in Nashville; his field work experiences and travels at the Board; and jobs he held at the Board. He gives his impressions of changes at the Board during his years of service and identifies his perception of the most significant change at the Board being department and division organizations that clarified job responsibilities.
