FROM STAFF REPORTS

Wilson Fallin Jr., University of Montevallo professor of history and adviser to the president for minority affairs, gave the commencement address Friday during the university’s fall graduation ceremonies.

Fallin, a member of the University of Montevallo faculty since 1992, earned a bachelor’s degree in history from Morehouse College and went on to earn a master of divinity degree from Colgate Rochester Divinity School, as well as a master’s degree in history from the University of Montevallo.

In 1995 he became the first African-American to earn a doctoral degree in history from the University of Alabama.

Fallin has spent decades researching the history of black churches in Birmingham and across Alabama.

He is the author of several historical works, including “A Shelter in the Storm: The African-American Church in Birmingham, 1815-1963.” His most-recent work, “Uplifting the People: Three Centuries of Black Baptists in Alabama,” was released June 1 by the University of Alabama Press. The book chronicles the journey of early Alabama black baptists and their descendants