Emma J. Wisdom

Dreammaker Emma J. Wisdom

Here is a story that resonates with the power of family and love and the determination of one man who made a dream come true. Born into bondage in 1843 in Mississippi, Dick Gray, later changing his name to R. H. Boyd, was sold to another slaveowner, separated from his family, and taken by his master to the Civil War battlefield. He fled to Mexico, where he became a man, finding new love and losing it again in the process, only to return as overseer of the plantation where he once was a slave. He rediscovered love in his childhood sweetheart. Then, tragedy struck, sending him into despair. Reunited with his family, he embraced Christianity for solace to deal with loss, was baptized, and decided to go into the ministry to find meaning in the new world that he now faced without the woman he loved. He became a rancher, cowboy, negotiator, and businessmen and found, once again, a woman who became his soul mate. Finally, he created the National Baptist Publishing Board in 1896, today known as the R. H. Boyd Publishing Corporation.