author
Charles Octavius Boothe
1845–1924
Born into slavery in Alabama, this Baptist preacher and educator became a steady voice for Black religious life after the Civil War. His writing preserves the people, churches, and institutions that helped shape African American history in the state.
1 Audiobook
The Cyclopedia of the Colored Baptists of Alabama: Their Leaders and Their Work
by Charles Octavius Boothe
About the author
After emancipation, Charles Octavius Boothe built a life around ministry, education, and writing. He became an influential African American Baptist preacher in Alabama and helped organize major Baptist efforts in the state during the Reconstruction era and beyond.
Boothe is especially remembered for his work as an author and record-keeper of Black church history. His best-known book, The Cyclopedia of the Colored Baptists of Alabama, gathered biographies, church histories, and community achievements into a lasting historical record.
He was also involved in educational and religious institutions that served Black communities, including work connected with Selma University and the Colored Baptist Missionary Convention of the State of Alabama. Today, his legacy endures both through his ministry and through the historical window his writing opened onto a pivotal period in Southern life.