Mr. Beeson Statue: Ralph Waldo Beeson

Published on November 8, 2017

Sculpted by Glynn Acree and installed in 1988, this life-size statue of Samford benefactor Ralph Waldo Beeson greets every visitor to Samford's campus. With gifts totaling more than $100 million, the Beeson family helped shape both the physical and intellectual landscapes of Samford University. Mr. Beeson's generosity continues to benefit and influence current and future generations of Samford students. Listen to Mr. Beeson talk about his father, a profound influence on his life.

Transcript

He named me for Ralph Waldo Emerson and Dwight, my brother, Dwight L. Moody.
So father was a very devout Christian and got so much work in this church in
Atlanta. He was a very fine preacher, but he devoted most of his time to his
Sunday school class.  They were all elderly men and he’d leave church on
Sunday morning and start right then preparing his next Sunday school lesson. And
his class valued him so much that on their own, because Father had it written
out, just memorized it, they employed a stenographer to take his class teachings
in shorthand and type them.  And I had copies of most of them, a big thick
bundle of them, which I later sent to Asbury, Kentucky; and they seemed to value
them very, very highly and placed them in their library. His Sunday school
classes were really outstanding.  There’s no if, and, about it. His church
asked him to prepare an Easter letter, but my father used to lecture.  My father
learned that it was wise to boil anything down, study it carefully and make it
brief.  Well, that is one of the most beautiful Easter items I have ever read,
less than a legal page typewritten.

Audio Information
Attribute	Value
Interviewee	Ralph Beeson
Repository	Samford University Oral History Collection