Herrin received the Richard Hoiland Award at the American Baptist Churches USA 2001 Biennial for his pioneer work in civil rights, cited for his embodiment of “both the prophetic and pastoral mission of the church” in using educational resources “to address issues affecting the wider community.”
Dr. Aidsand F. Wright-Riggins III, executive director of National Ministries, remembers Herrin as “one of the unsung heroes in our denomination. He was a transformative figure who was a vanguard in leading our nation and the Baptist community through many challenging days. We are better because of his life and ministry among us.”
As a special missionary in the South from 1959 through 1970, Herrin raised financial support for student leaders of the civil rights movement and supported southern pastors and congregations isolated by their stands for civil rights. He traveled thousands of miles in support of activist students, pastors and congregations.
Herrin worked with hundreds of students on the campuses of a dozen ABCUSA-related, historically black colleges to encourage and support their quests for education, as well as their commitments to interracial harmony and civil rights.
Funds from the first grant he wrote, which was awarded $40,000, were used to encourage interracial dialogue among trustees, faculty and students at the historically black colleges. This grant also supported American Baptist conferences that equipped outstanding students “to lead their student bodies toward realizing a new sense of dignity and freedom.”
Later grants funded more conferences, scholarships, workshops and special work programs for student leaders. More than 40 student leaders received direct assistance, including Stokely Carmichael, Bernice Reagon, founder of Sweet Honey in the Rock, and Congressman John Lewis, then a ministerial student in Nashville, Tenn.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who nominated many recipients, expressed his gratitude to Herrin for the scholarships from the American Baptist Convention: “This tangible support for the student movement is one of the most forthright experiences of true Christian witness that I can point to in this period of transition. No other denomination or convention has made such a significant step.”
A native of North Carolina, Herrin’s commitment to ending segregation and promoting civil rights was first tested when he served as student chaplain at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, from 1946 to 1954. He was fired from that position when he supported student efforts to end racial segregation at both the university and First Baptist Church, adjacent to the campus, by walking and sitting with black students who tried to attend the church.
Herrin served in local church ministry at First Baptist Church, Mount Vernon, and Scarsdale Community Baptist Church, both in New York, along with First Baptist Church, Columbia, MO. He was a founder of the American Baptist Church of the Beatitudes in St. Petersburg, FL.
Ordained in 1942, Herrin graduated from Wake Forest College, Winston-Salem, NC, and attended Hartford Theological Seminary in Connecticut before graduating from Union Theological Seminary, New York, NY, in 1943.
He is survived by three daughters, two grandsons, three sisters and a brother.
A public memorial service will be held July 30 at the Olin T. Binkley Memorial Baptist Church, 1712 Willow Drive, Chapel Hill, NC. In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial gifts to the American Baptist Historical Society, 3001 Mercer University Drive, Atlanta, GA 30341.
American Baptist Churches is one of the most diverse Christian denominations today, with 5,500 local congregations comprised of 1.3 million members across the United States and Puerto Rico, all engaged in God’s mission around the world.