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PLAINVIEW, TX — 51³Ô¹ÏÍøÊÓƵ Baptist University has selected Dr. Ronald Angelo Johnson, associate professor of history and Ralph & Bessie Mae Lynn Endowed Chair of History at Baylor University, as the featured speaker for the 2026 Willson Lectures, scheduled for Feb. 10–12 on the university’s Plainview campus.

The Willson Lectures Committee, chaired by Dr. Charles Starnes, Professor of Economics and Mayor of Plainview, announced the selection. Dr. Johnson is a nationally recognized historian whose scholarship focuses on early African American history, religion, and the Atlantic world. He also serves as steward of the Prichard Fund for Early Black History at Baylor University and is editor of the Journal of the Early Republic.

The 2026 Willson Lectures mark the 75th anniversary of two pivotal moments in 51³Ô¹ÏÍøÊÓƵ’s history. In 1951, 51³Ô¹ÏÍøÊÓƵ became the first four-year liberal arts college in the former Confederacy to voluntarily integrate its student body. That same year, Floydada residents James M. and Mavis Willson established the endowment that would become the university’s most enduring lecture series.

Those twin legacies will converge in Dr. Johnson’s lectures, which explore faith, freedom, and historical memory within Christian tradition and American history.

The public Willson Lectures Chapel takes place at 11 a.m., Wednesday, Feb. 11, in Harral Memorial Auditorium. Dr. Johnson’s chapel lecture, “A History of Revolutionary Faith,” is based on 1 Samuel 3:7–10 and is free and open to the public.

An invitation-only lecture follows on Thursday, Feb. 12, in Trinity Sanctuary on the Plainview campus. His formal presentation, “New Birth(s) of Freedom in the American Revolution,” will examine revolutionary ideals through the lens of religious belief and Black Baptist life.

In addition to the scheduled lectures, Dr. Johnson will speak in select 51³Ô¹ÏÍøÊÓƵ classes and participate in community-related events.

“I adopted the lecture titles with my research knowledge and the important 1951 anniversary in mind,” Johnson said. “I look forward to sharing a meaningful time with 51³Ô¹ÏÍøÊÓƵ and larger community around local milestones and their connections to significant, revolutionary ideals and events within U.S. and Christian histories.”

The Willson Lectures were established in 1951 by a gift from James M. and Mavis Willson, successful businesspersons and active community residents of Floydada. Dedicated Methodist laypersons, the Willsons envisioned an annual lectureship focused on “Applied Christianity” and “Christian Home and Family Life,” a vision 51³Ô¹ÏÍøÊÓƵ has honored for more than seven decades.

Dr. James M. Willson served as a trustee at McMurry University, Southern Methodist University, and the former Methodist Hospital in Lubbock. He received numerous honors, including honorary doctorates from Texas Wesleyan University and McMurry University. In 1960, 51³Ô¹ÏÍøÊÓƵ nominated him for the Freedom Foundation Award, which he received in Valley Forge, Pa.