Dr. T. B. Boyd, Jr.

“Such meetings will result in clarifying the purpose and program of the Congress, and will enable us to launch a greater unified effort through our newly adopted program of Christian education in the Sunday School and Baptist Training Union Congress, as we seek to reach and supply the needs of many unreached and unenlisted men, women, and children throughout our nation.”
— Dr. T. B. Boyd, Jr.

In May of 1959, after the passing of Dr. Henry Allen Boyd, Dr. T. B. Boyd, Jr. assumed leadership of the NBPB, the National Baptist Congress, Citizens Banks, and other entities. Dr. Boyd was a graduate of Tennessee A & I State College, member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., and served on various boards and commissions throughout the city. Upon graduating from college in 1940, Dr. Boyd served in the Army during WWII. He also served as pastor of Greater Salem Baptist Church in Louisville, Kentucky.

During the turbulent decade of the 1960s, Dr. Boyd’s vision was to provide church leaders who were often bypassed by standard curriculums with new Christian ideas and techniques. Dr. Boyd also sought to facilitate even greater spiritual growth of Congress participants. Dr. Boyd was a supporter of the Civil Rights Movement, and he hosted Dr.

Martin Luther King, Jr., who served as a speaker at the 1960 session of the National Baptist Congress in Chicago, Illinois. Dr. Boyd called for unity and the uplift of Black people in the Baptist denomination, who were deeply divided at the time due to denominational disputes and cultural upheaval.

Dr. Boyd’s focus on product development, acquisition of new equipment, and the planning of a new headquarters were pivotal in the success of the companies.