BIO:Roger Williams 1603-1684 Founder of the first Baptist church in

America. Roger Williams was born in London and raised in the Episcopal
Church, of which he was made a rector. Becoming dissatisfied with the
ritual and ceremony of his church, he became a Puri- tan. He came to
America and preached in Boston and Plymouth, Massachusetts, where he
taught separation of church and state and complete religious freedom.
He was driven from Salem, Massachusetts, because of these convictions.
He went to Narragansett Bay, where he did missionary work among the
Indians. It was there that he founded the set- tlement of Providence,
Rhode Island. At this time he became a Baptist and was immersed in
water for the first time since his conversion. He served as governor of
the new colony from 1654 to 1657, but he practiced his separation of
church and state doctrines even as a civic ruler. Under his leadership,
Rhode Island was the first col- ony in the New World to establish
complete religious liberty for all men.

   ARTIST'S NOTE: All colors have been reduced to the purity and
separation which Williams preached. The cool blues and whites emphasize
the "blue laws," for which the Puritans were famous.

   Ruckman '66
