Raley, Helen Thames. The Spire of Faith. Np: Self published, 1961. 1st . [493]
Maroon cloth hardcover with bright gilt lettering, 7 1/4 x 5 1/4, 172 clean and unmarked pp., tight. Very good. Hardcover.
The story of Oklahoma Baptist University in Shawnee, Oklahoma.
Helen Thames Raley (1909-2002), b. Smithville, TX; d. Ponca City, OK. She studied at Mary Hardin-Baylor College, Belton, Texas, from 1926 to 1928 and completed her B.A. in Sacred Music at the Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Philadelphia. At the age of 18 she married John Wesley Raley, who became pastor of the First Baptist Church of Bartlesville, OK. He was the first president of Oklahoma Baptist University, selected in 1934. The couple served the University for 27 years, and guided it through the great depression, WWII and the boom years of the late 1940s and 1950s.
