Reverend George Parrish was born in Boone, Iowa in 1914. He was primarily raised by his grandmother—who was a touring midwife—main him to complete highschool exterior of Iowa and pursue increased training at a Bible faculty in Nashville, Tennessee and the Western Bible Faculty in Kansas Metropolis, Missouri. He returned to Iowa in 1936, settling down in Des Moines. Earlier than changing into the pastor of Maple Avenue Baptist Church, he was the assistant to earlier pastor Reverend C. Lopez McAllister, his buddy and mentor. Just a few years later, Reverend Parrish took over his mentor’s position for 47 years—from 1944 to 1991—making him the longest serving pastor of the congregation.
His frequent presence as a trusted supply in Des Moines’ newspapers implies that he was well-respected locally. For instance, Reverend Parrish’s letter to the editor “Confrontation” was printed, detailing his son’s expertise with police brutality, advocating for improved police conduct in 1978. Different articles cite his opinion, like “Racial Imbalance Proven in Colleges” in 1967, “A perspective on race relations” in 1985, and “Residents hear results of cuts” in 1986. His remark from the latter article is especially intriguing given latest relentless U.S. involvement in international affairs: ‘’it’s immoral for this authorities to spend tons of of 1000’s of {dollars} means off someplace when there are kids right here with out sufficient bread and with out sneakers on their toes.”’
From a theoretical stance, when Reverend Parrish was interviewed about ‘race relations’ in The Des Moines Register, he shared a singular framework to grasp key shifts in Des Moines’ twentieth century Black historical past, based mostly throughout the adjustments he’s seen in his lifetime:
- Earlier than 1936: Few Black folks “may do and go just about the place they wished.”
- 1936-1954: A number of state mines closed, and lots of Black laborers got here to Des Moines. This era is characterised by “bigotry and segregation;” Busy Bee and Might’s have been the one two eating places that might serve Black folks.
- 1954-Onward: The U.S. Supreme Courtroom reached a choice on the Brown v. Board of Schooling case, “ushering in a interval of ‘tolerance’ towards” Black folks and the combination of colleges.
This framework at the side of different Black Iowan elders’ understandings of native Black historical past could be helpful in preserving information and recontextualizing how life was skilled, moderately than centering a indifferent perspective that respects priority. I hope to see their information uplifted on this method in future tasks.
Reverend Parrish was instantly concerned in his metropolis’s interracial affairs, however he left Des Moines’ interracial ministerial affiliation in 1954 after certainly one of his white ex-colleague’s spoke about tolerance in a single breath, after which hypocritically within the subsequent mentioned, ”After I get to heaven, I’m going to ask the Lord to let me go into the coloured part to listen to the coloured of us sing.”
Reverend Parrish’s tenure as a public determine far surpassed his congregation, as he served because the president of the Iowa Missionary and Instructional Conference, vp of the Nationwide Baptist Conference, and the president of the Des Moines Ministerial Alliance. For his in depth dedication to the group in Des Moines, he was honored for his Christian Management in 1982, and he was notably a member of the Iowa Fee on the Standing of Blacks, the Des Moines Space Spiritual Council, and the NAACP.
Sources
- “Racial Imbalance Proven in Colleges,” Des Moines Tribune November 22, 1967 p 15
- “Letters to the Editor: Confrontation,” Des Moines Tribune September 8, 1978 p 18
- “15 D.M. residents honored for group service,” Des Moines Register November 18, 1982 p 107
- “A perspective on race relations,” Des Moines Register Might 8, 1985 p 64
- “Residents hear results of cuts.” Des Moines Register March 19, 1986 p 55
- “George H. Parrish — Obituary,” Des Moines Register January 25, 1991 p 31