Biography:

Librarian, Baptist clergyman, writer. Born– May 13, 1917,  Fowlersville, Pa. Parents– Andrew K. and Emma L. (Heldebrand) Helmbold.  Married– Neola E. Wood, June 10, 1942. Children– Four. Education–Samford University, A.B., 1919; Duke University, M.A., 1954. Newspaper reporter for Wilkes-Barre Record (Pa.), 1934-1936; printer for Dallas Post (Pa.);  and owned a printing business, 1936-1942. Served in U.S. Army Air Force, WWII, 1942-1946. Ordained as Baptist minister, 1947; served churches in Selma (1947-49)and Springville, Ala. (1949-50), Durham, N.C. (1951-54);  supply pastor for various churches, 1954-82. Librarian at Barrington College (R.I.), 1954-1957; Samford University, 1957-1984; Curator of the Alabama Baptist Historical  Commission, 1957-84; editor of Alabama Baptist Historian, 1967-84.  Director of the Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research, 1965-1984.  Founding chair, Baptist Information Retrieval System, 1972-84.  Contributed to religious and historical journals.  Member Alabama, Baptist, and  other historical societies.  Awarded the title Curator Emeritus upon his retirement at Samford. Died July 21, 1989.

Source:

Marquis Who’s Who online.

Publication(s):

Baptist Records for Genealogy and History.  Birmingham, Ala., Banner Press, 1985.

Brief Sketches of Some Alabama Baptist Associations Extant and Extinct. Birmingham, Ala.; Samford University, 1970.

Seventy-five years at Central Park Baptist Church, Birmingham, Alabama, 1910-1985.  Birmingham: Banner Press, 1985.

Tracing Your Ancestry; a Step-by-Step Guide …. Birmingham, Ala.; Oxmoor House, 1976.

Trailways National Route Map; …. San Jose, Calif.; H. M. Gousha Co., 1977.

Joint_Publication(s):

Library Resources for Genealogical Research of Alabama. Birmingham, Ala.; F. W. Helmbold, 1980.

Editor:

“Born of the Needs of the People”; the Extension Ministry of Samford University. Birmingham, Ala.; Banner Press, 1967.

Selma, the Gospel at Work; Progress Among the Selma Baptist Association …. Birmingham, Ala.; Banner Press, 1983.

Joint_Editor:

The Christian Life Revealed in the Gospel of John. Birmingham, Ala.; Banner Press, 1981.

Papers:

A collection of the papers of F. Wilbur Helmbold is held by the Special Collection Department at the Samford University Library in Birmingham.