The author has wonderfully traced the orgins of the Roanoke Missionary Baptist Associations and its Founders from 1866 to 1966. He has included brief but substative narratives of the lives of the Founding Fathers namely: L. W. Boone, Z. H. Berry, H. H. Hays, C. E.Hodges, C. E. Johnson, William Reid, Emanuel Reynolds and others. Sufficient attention has been given to the activities of the Women Missionary and Education Union. Pictures and narratives of 10 of its previous presidents has been enshirned in the chapter entitled, "Woman, What of our Past." Historical sketches and pictures of selected churches within the Roanoke Missionary Baptist Association displays the far reaching effects of the Founding Fathers. The concluding chapter details the founding of the West Raonoke Missionary Baptist Association from the Roanoke Missionary Baptist Association. Dr. Boone has taken the Bataan from others who knew that this important historical contribution needed to be gathered, appreciated, shared and celebrated for a job well done. Unfortunately, no one was able to consistently pursue this great endeavor before Dr. Boones extensive and exhaustive work represented here. Massive in its scope the volume guides the reader in a comprehensive and challenging look at the origin and the significance of the Roanoke Missionary Baptist Association and the importance of the Founding Fathers and the work with the North Carolina and Virginia abolitionist. The lives of the Founding Fathers and the lives of the first three generations of pastors and officials are succinctly presented as they lifted up the esssential meaning of liberation for the pastor and the local congregations in northeastern North Carolina. The History of the Roanoke Missionary Baptist Association from 1866-1966 provides critical resources for the study of the formation of this grand institution. Dr. Boone has put in place a solid foundation that can be built upon as new information becomes available. He is married to the former Amanda Battle of Richmond, VA. They reside in Hampton Roads, Virginia.

These early sainted ministers of the Roanoke Missionary Baptist Association and its Middle Ground Union Meeting put on their long dusters, black beaver hats and satchels containing a Bible, and a hymn book, and traveled fifity-one miles down the long winding roads and muddy streams preaching the gospel from Edenton, N. C., to Nansemond County, Virginia via-the Edenton-Suffolk Highway, and to all points along the way. Upon arriving at their religious duty stations they preached to men who had been previously robbed by slavery of himself and made the property of another. In this position these preachers awaken the minds of their congregations to the fact that God had commissioned the Negro to a higher status in God's eye than those who oppressed him. This book records the quaterly 5th weekend sessions of those meetings. This book provides clear examples of the purposes of the Middle Ground Union Meeting: preaching, evangelization, education and general race uplift to include the power to believe in themselves as people with intrinsic values. Pulpit preaching with the church as the center for black caring, mobilized the black community in obtaining indemnity for the past, and security for the future. The Middle Ground Union Meeting Ministers used the pulpit as great preaching station to address the social ills of the era.

In The Chronological History of the Roanoke Missionary Baptist Association and Its Founders from 1866-1966, Dr. L. Morings Boone has created a historical memorial to the founding fathers of the Roanoke Missionary Baptist Association. These men played a great part in shaping the destiny of the members of the Roanoke Missionary Baptist Association. Distinguished in their religious and public life, these men left their stamp on the history of the Negro Church of Northeastern North Carolina and Virginia. Dr. L. Morings Boone has done another tremendous job of restoring a history and legacy of African-American clergy who established a ministerial alliance against the backdrop of racial oppression and dismal circumstances. These faithful and courageous founding fathers led their congregations in such a way as to establish the Roanoke Institute to educate the children of northeastern North Carolina. Dr. Boone has searched tirelessly into the history of the association to discover the passionate work that drove these men against the tyranny of southern discrimination to elevate their communities through their Missionary Baptist efforts and through public education.

In The Chronological History of the Roanoke Missionary Baptist Association and Its Founders from 18661966, Dr. L. Morings Boone has created a historical memorial to the founding fathers of the Roanoke Missionary Baptist Association. These men played a great part in shaping the destiny of the members of the Roanoke Missionary Baptist Association. Distinguished in their religious and public life, these men left their stamp on the history of the Negro Church of Northeastern North Carolina and Virginia. Dr. L. Morings Boone has done another tremendous job of restoring a history and legacy of African-American clergy who established a ministerial alliance against the backdrop of racial oppression and dismal circumstances. These faithful and courageous founding fathers led their congregations in such a way as to establish the Roanoke Institute to educate the children of northeastern North Carolina. Dr. Boone has searched tirelessly into the history of the association to discover the passionate work that drove these men against the tyranny of southern discrimination to elevate their communities through their Missionary Baptist efforts and through public education.