Description:Nearly full-length seated portrait of a man with light brown hair and blue eyes in black formal attire with coat, vest, and tie of black and a white shirt. His right hand is raised and resting on a book, presumably the Bible, and his left hand rests on the arm of a red chair.
History:Cooper confirmed by C. Stow of Cumberland Art Conservation March, 2004.
Notes:The Reverend Dr. Howell was minister of the First Baptist Church on two different occasions (1835-1850 and 1857-1867). He began The Baptist, the first state oriented denominational publication that evolved to spawn the Baptist Publishing House. Dr. Howell was a major leader in Baptist and community life. He was elected four times as President of the Southern Baptist Convention. Additionally, Dr. Howell was an organizer of Union University, a proponent of the establishment of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, a Trustee of the Baptist Foreign Mission Board, and a Trustee of the Tennessee Institution for the Blind. A miniature of his wife, Mary Ann Martin Toy Howell, is also on this site.
