BIO:William Bell Riley

1861-1947
Baptist pastor and educator. W.B. Riley was born in Green 
County, Indiana, but soon moved with his parents to Boone 
County, Kentucky, where they lived in a log cabin. He spent 
his formative years working the fields from dawn to dusk. In 
1880 he completed sufficient schooling at a normal school in 
Valparaiso, Indiana, and received his teacher's certificate. 
After teaching in county schools, he attended college in 
Hanover, Indiana, where he received an A.B. degree in 1885. 
He served several Baptist churches in Kentucky, Indiana, and 
Illinois, in addition to studying at Southern Baptist Theo-
logical Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky.
        On March 1, 1897, he began his ministry as pastor of 
the First Baptist Church, Minneapolis, Minnesota. He served 
as pastor for 45 years and pastor emeritus for five years. A 
gifted orator and preacher, he championed the cause of funda-
mental evangelical Christianity. He conducted large evangel-
istic campaigns in which thousands were saved, in addition to 
building up the membership of his church to more than 2,500. 
During his entire ministry, he fought modernism, liberalism, 
and sin. On one occasion he debated against evolution at the 
University of Minnesota.
        In 1942, he retired from the active pastorate to de-
vote full-time to Northwestern Schools, which he founded on 
October 2, 1902 as Northwestern Bible and Missionary Training 
School. Dr. Riley was the author of at least 60 volumes, nu-
merous booklets, and single sermons in pamphlet form.

ARTIST'S NOTE: The black-and-white colors emphasize the posi-
tion of an out-and-out fundamentalist who takes a clear stand 
with no middle position. The pinks and whites present his 
Nordic ancestry.

Ruckman '65
