American Baptist Theological Seminary was created as a unique inter-racial undertaking of Christian education under the auspices of the National Baptist Convention U.S.A. Inc. and the Southern Baptist Convention. It was initially located at 1800 Whites Creek Pike (now called Baptist World Center Drive) in Nashville, Tennessee.
The college consisted of eight buildings: The Chapel, The Library, President's Home, J.B. Lawrence Administration Building, Griggs Dormitory, Book Store (new edition that was located at the rear of the campus), Steam Plant, and Garages. In addition to this tract, the Seminary owned fifty additional acres in the immediate vicinity ( Source: The Seminarian 1948-1949).
It is noted that the the driving force behind the development of the seminar was Dr. O.L. Hailey of the Southern Baptist Convention (Powell, 1964)
"Like many other distinctive Negro schools, the seminary endured through hard and patient struggles and made contributions, of which many are unaware, to the denomination and race. It has given students the opportunity to experiment and learn, often through costly failures. It has furnished scenes and occasions for race initiative and fellowship. It has cherished the principle that there is something inherently singular in the Christian religion of the Negro, that is based on the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man, and which teaches men to love mercy, to do justly, and to walk humbly with their God.
The American Baptist Theological Seminary is a center of moral, intellectual, and spiritual radiation, like a powerful searchlight in the darkness of a dense wilderness. It has illuminated the pathway of hundreds of young men and women and filled its students with something so unique and indefinable that the world knows they bear witness to the Light.
The history of the American Baptist Theological Seminary is based upon the lives of great and dedicated men around whom conditions, circumstances, and events led to the organization, the building, the development, and subsequent growth of the school. The history is also interwoven with personalities, many of whom gave their lives in service whose influence even today still shadows the lives of ministers, missionaries, and Christian workers throughout the world."
- Ruth Marie Powell
References
Powell, Ruth Marie. Lights and Shadows: The Story of the American Baptist Theological Seminary 1924-64. 1964.