After serving for 28 years at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary (SEBTS) as senior professor of Baptist studies, Keith Harper has retired from full-time teaching as of July 31, 2024.
Harper came to Southeastern in the fall of 1996 as an assistant professor of church history, having taught previously at Mississippi College after receiving his PhD from the University of Kentucky. His field was U.S. history with a specialty in Southern history. His dissertation title was “Southern Baptists and Social Christianity, 1890-1920.”
Over the next 28 years, Harper would continue to pursue scholarship with a passion and fervor somehow matched by his zeal for teaching others and guiding them into the world of academia. Though discreet, his influence has not gone unnoticed, and many of Harper’s students, colleagues and friends have expressed immense gratitude for his influence in their lives.
Brent Aucoin, associate dean of The College for academic affairs and professor of history, reflected on his initial interactions with Harper: “From the moment I arrived on campus, Keith mentored me as a junior scholar in the field by graciously sharing with me his immense knowledge of Baptist history and by patiently answering all my questions.
“Over the last two decades,” Aucoin said, “my understanding of Baptist history and my effectiveness as a teacher of Baptist history has increased significantly because of the efforts of Keith Harper. I know from my conversations with hundreds of his former students over the years that they join me in expressing our deepest gratitude towards Dr. Harper for teaching us more fully what it means to be a Baptist.”
Baptist history is one of Harper’s primary passions in research. He has written extensively on the Southern Baptist denomination, from its past to its present. However, Harper’s scholarship involves a plethora of other interests as well, including Southern history, U.S. religious history and U.S. social history. He also possesses a deep interest in the state of Kentucky, where he completed the entirety of his academic education. In all of this, Harper most noticeably has a heart for the unheard voices.
As a masterful storyteller, Harper has sought to represent in his writing those who are often overlooked in history. Along with many other academic works, Harper edited and published the following books: “Between Fetters and Freedom: African American Baptists Since Emancipation,” “Rescue the Perishing: Selected Letters from Annie Armstrong and Other Writings,” “Send the Light: Lottie Moon’s Letters and Other Writings,” and “Esteemed Reproach: The Lives of Rev. James Ireland and Rev. Joseph Craig.”
Harper’s articles and book review publications reflect this same motivation in even greater depth, consistently wrestling with and seeking to represent the history of Black people, of women in America, of children and of missionaries.
“Dr. Keith Harper is a gift to Southern Baptists and to Baptist scholarship,” said Walter Strickland, assistant professor of systematic and contextual theology. “His keen mind and warm-hearted scholarship emerged from a passion for the purity of the church’s witness to God’s kingdom. While Dr. Harper is a scholar who influenced the masses with his pen, I can testify to his investment in individuals who will never be able to return the favor. His legacy will reverberate for generations to the glory of God.”
Employing his own experience as an academic and as the series editor for “America’s Baptists,” Harper mentored countless students through the process of entering academia, especially those seeking advanced degrees.
Rebecca Pate, alumna and director of Marketing and Communications at Southeastern, expressed her own gratitude for Harper’s impact on her education.
“I’m so thankful for the opportunity to have studied under Dr. Harper for my ThM,” Pate said. “As a supervisor, he helped me become a better student, a better reader and a better writer. His guidance helped me both to present my first paper at an academic conference and also to get my first article published based on the research I had done for my ThM writing project.”
She added, “Dr. Harper stands out as a professor who is deeply invested in not only his students’ academic success but also their personal flourishing. Moreover, he has always been a champion for women in scholarship and has never hesitated to provide support whenever we in the Society for Women in Scholarship asked him.”
As a historian and as a teacher, Harper has given the voiceless moments of the past and people of the present an opportunity to speak and, most of all, to be heard.
“Keith Harper has served Southeastern with distinction, both in the length of his tenure and in his expertise,” said Provost Scott Pace. “As a renowned historian, Dr. Harper has served the local church and helped fulfill the Great Commission by equipping students with an informed understanding of God’s proven faithfulness in past generations in order to shape their ministries for generations to come.”
Southeastern President Danny Akin also expressed his gratitude for Harper’s many years of dedicated service, stating, “Keith Harper is a great gift to Southeastern. For nearly 30 years, he has helped our students understand their Baptist heritage and draw insight and encouragement from the past. He has been a superb teacher, a good friend and a consummate encourager. Bottom line: I will miss having him in our classrooms, but I know he will continue to have a kingdom impact in his retirement.”
To be closer to his family, Harper recently moved to South Carolina where he plans to complete his writing projects in retirement.
