Dr. Ronald Angelo Johnson Awarded Ella Wall Prichard Fund for Early Black Baptist History
Dr. Ronald Angelo Johnson, Ralph and Bessie Mae Lynn Chair of History and Associate Professor of History, recently became the steward of the Ella Wall Prichard Fund for Early Black Baptist History. This newly developed fund, generously gifted by Baylor History alumna Ella Wall Prichard (’63), aims to support the study of the origins and evolution of Black Baptist history in North American to 1866.
Below, Dr. Johnson reflects on meeting Mrs. Prichard and how their shared interest in Black Baptist history blossomed into academic inquiry and the eventual founding of the Ella Wall Prichard Fund for Early Black Baptist History.
How did you come to receive the Ella Wall Prichard Fund for Early Black Baptist History and what does the gift mean to you?
History alum Ella Wall Prichard (Baylor '63) and I began discuss Baylor University as the ideal place to center the research and teaching of early Black Baptist History in November 2024, when Mrs. Prichard, my wife Colette and I attended the dedication of the Bray School at Colonial Williamsburg in Williamsburg, Virginia. The Williamsburg Bray School was one of the earliest institutions dedicated to Black education in North America. During our time together in Virginia, we discussed a need for greater inclusion of Black Baptist history in the general history of Baptists in North America and in the historical narrative of the United States.
How did you meet Mrs. Prichard and form a working relationship with her?
Getting to know and to develop a friendship with Mrs. Prichard has been one of the many unexpected joys of being at Baylor. Mrs. Prichard and I met via email in 2021, during my first year on faculty, when I moderated the Baylor Conversation Series: Slavery in America. During the discussion with noted scholars on slavery, I mentioned that First African Baptist Church in Savannah was established by enslaved Christians in the 18th century. Following the livestreamed event, Mrs. Prichard sent me a message to introduce herself as a proud History alum and former student of History professor Dr. Ralph Lynn, the namesake of the endowed chair I proudly hold. She also asked me a pointed question in reference to early African Baptist churches: ‘What about Williamsburg?’ From that initial inquiry, Mrs. Prichard and I have enjoyed a developing friendship rooted in our shared interest in and appreciation for the contributions of early Black Baptist congregations across North America. Mrs. Prichard’s own research on the African Meeting House of Williamsburg, along with archeological analysis from Colonial Williamsburg, made important scholarly contributions to my latest book Entangled Alliances: Racialized Freedom and Atlantic Diplomacy during the American Revolution, published in October 2025 with Cornell University Press.
Please tell us about your field of historical scholarship and your interest in early Black Baptist history.
My historical research centers diplomacy in the study of freedom and slavery in the early United States and the Atlantic World. I have come to understand the Black Baptist faith during the US revolutionary and federalist eras as an instrument of Black people to seek freedom and justice in a world that enslaved and disenfranchised them. Religious freedom remains a lasting, empowering characteristic of the American Revolution and the US Constitution. Those early moments in US history allowed Black people the relative freedom to create distinctive religious spaces in which to worship and pray to a God, their Creator, who valued their humanity as equal to all others on earth.
What are your plans for projects or events that could be funded by this gift?
As steward of the Ella Wall Prichard Fund for Early Black Baptist History in the Department of History, I plan to initiate an effort to establish Baylor University as an intellectual hub of 18th and 19th-century Black Baptist life and thought in the United States and Atlantic World. The objective of the Prichard Fund is to support the study of the origins and evolution of Black Baptist history in North America to 1866. The Prichard Fund will seek to support scholarly events, research conducted by faculty and students, and stipends for students.