marshall keeble/willie cato collection
scope and contents
over a period of several years, willie cato collected items and writings pertaining to or belonging to marshall keeble. the bulk of the collection contains keeble's letters to cato from the nine year period between 1958 and 1967. these letters were written while keeble was traveling for speaking engagements and contained encouragement and instructions for cato, who ran the nashville christian institute (nci) during keeble's abscence. cato often wrote notes for keeble's sermons on any material available and took notes during conversations, recording keeble's colloquialisms and witticisms, referring to them as "keeble's quips and comments. this collection contains items belonging to keeble including his cufflinks, his tie, and his shoes. cato's daughter rita cochrane shared the story behind keeble’s tie. cato acquired the tie while at a gospel meeting where keeble suggested they switch ties “because he liked cato’s better.” the men exchanged ties. mrs. cochrane describes her father as “sentimental” because he kept keeble’s tie knotted as keeble had tied it. today the tie remains as keeble had it knotted the day he wore it."the shoes in the collection are the shoes that keeble was wearing when he died on april 20th, 1968. "cato also collected items belonging to nci, including an embossing stamp, school desk and paddle. the latter two items remain in the possession of rita cochrane.
this collection was graciously donated by rita cochrane and amy hamar, two of cato's five children.
dates
- creation: inclusive date: 1941-1991, bulk date: 1957-1968
creator
- cochrane and hamar, mrs. and mrs. (donor, family)
conditions governing access
this collection is open for research.
biographical / historical
marshall keeble (12/7/1878-4/20/1968) was born near murfreesboro, tennessee, to former slaves robert and mittie keeble. he became a highly celebrated evangelist known for establishing hundreds of african-american churches of christ in nashville, tennessee, in the early to mid 20th century. keeble spent his 54-year career, from 1914 until he died in 1968, traveling across the united states conducting gospel meetings, establishing churches, and speaking at lectureships. he is credited with having baptized between 20,000 and 40,000 people during his lifetime. keeble was influential to both black and white christians, often preaching to interracial audiences and willingly baptizing people of both races. keeble became the president of the nashville christian institute (nci) in 1942, the year that the school - which had previouly been a night school for adults - began offering classes for children from kindergarten through the twelfth grade. keeble would travel to raise funds for nci by being the opening or closing speaker at christian lectures. often, he would take young men from nci, who were training to become gospel preachers, to practice preaching at these engagements. keeble wrote numerous articles for journals, including christian echo, the gospel advocate, and firm foundation. in 1962, he wrote his autobiography, history of my life(or) mule back to super jet with the gospel.
willie cato (1/12/1923-9/22/1991) was born in whites creek, tennessee. he and his wife, the former maxine watts, had six children and ten grandchildren, he earned a ba from david lipscomb college (dlc) in 1953 and an ma from george peabody college. in 1950, cato began preaching at congregations in hendersonville and nashville, tennessee. cato also taught classes at dlc and served as president of both nci and the african christian schools foundation. during his time as president of nci (1959-1967), cato worked closely with marshall keeble, the two men would frequently travel to gospel meetings, christian lectures, and conferences, at which they would both promote at raise funds for nci. cato reflected on his experiences traveling with keeble in his hand and his heart (1990)
extent
4.791 linear feet
language of materials
english
abstract
willie cato served as the president of the nashville christian institute (nci) from 1959 until the school's cosing in 1967. during this time, cato worked with and became close to nci president emeritus marshall keeble. cato was greatly invested in his work at nci and had an admiration for marshall keeble as a preacher. cato spent years collecting materials and memorabilia related to keeble, nci and its related ministries, and church work. this collection features correspondence from keeble to cato (1959-1967), a collection of photographs (featuring keeble, cato, and nci students), manuscripts and notes for willie cato's book his hand and his heart, and material culture relating to keeble and nci.
arrangement
the archivist arranged the collection into ten series
series i, nashville christian institute
series ii, miscellaneous
series iii, photographs
series iv, correspondence
series v, pamphlets, flyers, and newspaper clippings
series vi, marshall keeble biographies
series vii, memorial letters and articles
series viii, cato's writings and notes
series ix, 'keeble's quips and comments'
series x, material culture
separated materials
this collection contains letters, photographs, flyers, brochures, newspaper clippings, personal notes, manuscripts, vinyl records, cassette tapes, books, shoes, clothing accessories, and an embossing stamp.
legal status
unpublished manufaturers are protected by copyright. permission to publish, quote, or, reproduce must be secured from the repository. contact the archivist.
- language of description
- english
- script of description
- latin
repository details
part of the 世界杯2022预选赛录像回放 beaman library archives and special collections repository
1 university park dr
1 university park dr
nashville tennessee 37204 united states
elizabeth.rivera@lipscomb.edu
