BLACK SOCIAL HISTORY : AFRICAN AMERICAN " JAMES L. FARMER Sr " WAS AN AMERICAN AUTHOR, THEOLOGIAN AND EDUCATOR : GOES INTO THE " HALL OF BLACK GENIUS "

        BLACK      SOCIAL     HISTORY                                                                                                          

James L. Farmer, Sr.

Historical marker dedicated toJames L. Farmer, Sr., at Wiley College in Marshall, Texas

James Leonard Farmer, Sr. (June 12, 1886 – May 14, 1961) was an American author, theologian, and educator. He earned his bachelor, masters of theology, and doctoral degrees at Boston University.^[1] Farmer served as a minister in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South and as a professor at several historically black colleges and universities in the U.S., most notably Howard University, Huston-Tillotson College,Wiley College and Rust College. Aspects of his life are chronicled in the film The Great Debaters, in which he is played by Forest Whitaker. His son James L. Farmer, Jr. was the famed civil rights leader.