O. B. Perkins and the Southern Oratorical Preaching Tradition

Much has been written on the chanting "spiritual" style of folk preaching in America. This style has so dominated folklore studies that many scholars define folk preaching exclusively in terms of this style. O.B. Perkins has all the characteristics of a folk preacher, but he does not chant his sermons. Instead, he has a reasoned, oratorical delivery quite similar to the popular political rhetoric of the early twentieth century South. This study of his life and sermons broadens the field of folk preaching to include the preaching of those who do not chant their sermons, but who do have a traditional homiletical form.