Historians and their stories. Baptists have a rich and diverse history, a richness that this journal and several other journals of Baptist history explore. (Editorial).

Hawkins, Merrill M., Jr.

The people who make history are the usual topics of this journal. here is another side to history, though. The people who write history and the approach they have taken is another part of the Baptist heritage. This winter edition of Baptist History and Heritage takes a look at the story of Baptist history and Baptist historians. As is the case with most of our thematic issues, this one cannot begin to be a comprehensive look at Baptist historiography. It is, though, a beginning.

Mike Williams of Dallas Baptist University has taken a look at William Wright Barnes, a leader in establishing Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary's role in the study of Baptist history.

Barnes's predecessor, Albert Henry Newman, is credited with starting the study of church history at SWBTS. He is the subject of an article by Glenn Jonas of Campbell University.

Bill Pitts of Baylor University comes at this journal's topic from a slightly different vantage point. He has examined the "Baptistness" of Kenneth Scott Latourette, the Yale historian of Christianity. Latourette was not a Baptist historian by any means, but he was a committed Baptist whose work was shaped by his denominational identity.

Shifting from these studies of Baptist historians, several writers explore trends in the study of Baptist history. Walter Shurden, Callaway Professor of Christianity and executive director of the Center for Baptist Studies at Mercer University, looks at the different explanations Southern Baptist historians have given for the creation of the Southern Baptist Convention in 1845. He, along with Lori Redwine Varnadoe, a former student of his, note that Southern Baptist historians were late in concluding that slavery was the dominant reason for the creation of the convention.

Daniel Stowell, director and editor of the Papers of Abraham Lincoln, writes a review essay of four current books that explore the histories of state conventions affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. Stowell's essay and the books he reviews remind us that the story of Southern Baptists can be told fully only when historians look beyond the story of the Southern Baptist Convention. State convention and associational histories, well-written local church histories, and the perspectives of the laity, to name a few areas, must inform historical research about Southern Baptists.

Finally, Chad Hall, who works with the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, gives us a look at a Baptist leader who shaped many Baptist lay perspectives on history. James R. Graves, a complex figure who tends to be demonized by some and lauded by others, receives a fair and balanced treatment in Hall's article.

There is much more to be told about Baptist history. This issue leans heavily on the southern dimensions of historiography, with the exception of Latourette. I will look forward to seeing more on the subject in the future.