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Key local figure

Robert E. Seymour

Robert Seymour became the first pastor of Chapel Hill's Binkley Memorial Baptist Church in 1959 and stepped down from the pulpit in 1988. In the 1960s he fought for racial integration of his church and the town, and in 1963 he helped organize the Inter-Faith Council for Social Service and served as its first president.

Source: Chapelboro: Robert Seymour, Civil Rights Activist and Chapel Hill Pastor, Dies at 95

Also found in catalogs as Robert E. (Robert Edward) Seymour.

1925–2020 as the Library of Congress records it · On the Friends’ Local Authors roster → · Library of Congress authority record ↗

4 indexed works are connected with this person, and the index includes 3 works by Robert E. Seymour.

Robert E. Seymour, newspaper photograph, 1960
Robert E. Seymour, newspaper photograph, 1960

Indexed works

Works in the index that concern this person directly, or were written by them. Each links to the institution that holds or provides it; background reading with wider context sits further down.

By Robert E. Seymour

"Whites only" : a pastor's retrospective on signs of the new South

Seymour, Robert E. (Robert Edward), 1925-2020 · 2011 · Chapel Hill Press

Robert E. Seymour, a Baptist pastor in Chapel Hill associated with Olin T. Binkley Memorial Baptist Church, looks back on segregation and race relations in the South from the pulpit. A clergyman's memoir covering church history in the town, Baptists in North Carolina and the segregation of African Americans. Published by Chapel Hill Press in 2011, 204 pages.

A village voice : collected columns from the Chapel Hill news

Seymour, Robert E. (Robert Edward), 1925-2020 · 2003 · Chapel Hill Press

Robert E. Seymour's columns for the Chapel Hill News, gathered into a 192-page book by Chapel Hill Press in 2003. The short pieces offer anecdotes and reflections on Chapel Hill history, local manners and customs, and North Carolina life. Seymour (1925 to 2020) was the longtime pastor of Olin T. Binkley Memorial Baptist Church.

Robert E. Seymour papers, 1941-2017

Seymour, Robert E. (Robert Edward), 1925-2020 · 1941

Thirty seven linear feet of papers from Robert E. Seymour (1925-2020), approximately 14,700 items dated 1941 to 2017, part of the Southern Historical Collection at UNC, collection 04554. Seymour was a Baptist clergyman in North Carolina. The papers concern Olin T. Binkley Memorial Baptist Church in Chapel Hill along with congregations in Mars Hill and Warrenton. Race relations and community life in the state are also subjects.

UNC

About Robert E. Seymour

Seymour, Robert (Rev.) and Ralph Paull: photographs (Chapel Hill Historical Society)

1991

The Rev. Robert Seymour and Ralph Paull at the Chapel Hill Senior Center in 1991. A single photograph in the Chapel Hill Historical Society's Prints and Photographs Collection.

Why this is here: Their name appears in the record.

Seymour, Robert (Rev.): photographs (Chapel Hill Historical Society)

1980

Six photographs of the Rev. Robert Seymour dated 1980, including portraits, one of him in vestments greeting members of his congregation, and one posed with an unidentified woman. Seymour was the longtime pastor of Olin T. Binkley Memorial Baptist Church in Chapel Hill. From the Chapel Hill Historical Society's Prints and Photographs Collection.

Why this is here: Their name appears in the record.

Life and Orange County connections

Dated events connected with this person, earliest first. See these 6 dated events in the chronology →

  1. Robert Seymour becomes the first pastor of Binkley Memorial Baptist Church Robert Seymour came to Chapel Hill in 1959 as the first minister of the Olin T. Binkley Memorial Baptist Church, organized the year before. He led it until 1988.Search the index · Chapelboro: Robert Seymour, Civil Rights Activist and Chapel Hill Pastor, Dies at 95
  2. Binkley Baptist Church takes James Forbes as a student intern Under Robert Seymour, Binkley Memorial Baptist Church accepted James A. Forbes Jr., a Black divinity student, as its intern in 1962.Search the index · Carolina Arts & Sciences Magazine: Pillar of Chapel Hill community leaves gift to College's diversity, equity and inclusion efforts
  3. Binkley votes to join the new American Baptist Churches of the South Binkley took part in forming the American Baptist Churches of the South and approved membership on July 18, 1970. Robert Seymour, Sam Hill, Henry Hellmers and Bob DesJardins helped organize the body, most of whose churches were Black congregations. People: Robert E. SeymourCourtland Smith and John L. Humber, Olin T. Binkley Memorial Baptist Church: A Twenty Year View, 1958-1978 (1978), scan p. 6
  4. Robert Seymour preaches a sermon on the church and homosexuality Binkley's pastor Robert E. Seymour preached a sermon questioning the readings of scripture used to keep gay people at arm's length and citing new scientific work. Humber calls it the one time before 1991 that the church took up the subject. People: Robert E. SeymourJohn L. Humber, The Ordeal and Tragedy of Binkley Baptist Church (1992), scan p. 25
  5. Habitat for Humanity of Orange County is incorporated An ecumenical housing effort that began at Binkley Baptist Church in late 1982 became Habitat for Humanity of Orange County, incorporated in April 1984. Its first house was a donated building moved to what became the Chestnut Oaks neighborhood in Chapel Hill.Search the index · Habitat for Humanity of Orange County: History
  6. The Robert and Pearl Seymour Center opens on Homestead Road The Chapel Hill senior center that Robert Seymour founded opened in a new building on Homestead Road in 2007 and was named for him and his wife, Pearl.Search the index · Chapelboro: Robert Seymour, Civil Rights Activist and Chapel Hill Pastor, Dies at 95

Research sources

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Background

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Books about Robert E. Seymour

Books by Robert E. Seymour

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Photographs, papers, and newspapers

Historical records and collections

Searched with the Library of Congress heading Seymour, Robert E. (Robert Edward), 1925-2020, which helps separate this person from others with the same name. The historical records searches look for the name as written, so they can turn up other people with the same name. Each link opens that catalog’s own results in a new tab. The Friends have not reviewed what they return.

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Picture: Robert E. Seymour, newspaper photograph, 1960. No known copyright restrictions. The Chapel Hill Weekly, 21 November 1960; Library of Congress

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