Ramsey Pollard, longtime pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church, Memphis, Tennessee, and Broadway Baptist Church, Knoxville, Tennessee, was a noted preacher and revival leader throughout the Southern Baptist Convention from the 1950s through the 1970s. He served as SBC president from 1960-1961, as president of the Tennessee Baptist Convention (1954), president of the SBC Pastors’ Conference, chairman of the SBC Executive Committee, and in numerous other positions within the SBC. Pollard was well-known for his strong and articulate stands against alcoholism and the liquor industry, as well as on other moral and social issues.
This oral history interview was conducted by Lynn E. May, Jr. May 13,1975, in Memphis, Tennessee. In the interview Pollard discusses his childhood, spiritual and moral influences on his life, his family, his classes at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, his pastorates, and his positions as a denominational leader. He also mentions people who influenced him and other significant individuals in Southern Baptist life. Other issues mentioned include: fundamentalism, race relations, the Roman Catholic church, liquor industry, Southern Baptist Convention meetings, and the Cooperative Program.
