Date of Award
Spring 2002
Document Type
Dissertation - Restricted
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
History
Abstract
This is the story of Andrew Schulze (1896-1982), Lutheran pastor and civil rights pioneer, who dedicated his life and ministry to improved race relations in both church and society. Andrew Schulze was a white pastor of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod who spent his early ministry serving black Lutheran mission congregations in Springfield, Illinois (1924-28); St. Louis, Missouri (1928-47); and Chicago, Illinois (1947-54). Over the course of his career in the Lutheran Church, Schulze eventually became committed to ending segregation in both church and society. Schulze presented his case for integration in the church in his first book, My Neighbor of Another Color, published in 1941. Over the next three decades, Schulze fought continual battles against set social customs and a resistant church hierarchy. Schulze was behind the development of the Lutheran Human Relations Association of America (LHRAA), an organization officially begun in 1953, which grew to have over fifty local chapters throughout the nation. While the number of active LHRAA supporters only numbered a few thousand of some nine million Lutherans in America, they were a particularly influential group in the area of Lutheran race relations. From the 1950s to the 1970s, the Lutheran Human Relations Association of America was based at Valparaiso University, in Valparaiso, Indiana. Schulze ended his career at Valparaiso University, serving as head of the LHRAA and as a part-time professor of theology.