Fred L. Steen Papers

Fred Lee Steen Sr. was born in San Antonio, Texas on 1929 January 21 to Harrison and Lorena Steen. He attended Phillis Wheatley High School in San Antonio and went on to enroll at St. Philip's Junior College there in 1946 where he was the first student to be granted the A.S. Weiner Scholarship. He graduated from St. Philip's in 1948 and then entered Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee in 1949 as a pre-med student. In his junior year he decided to pursue the Christian ministry instead of a career as a doctor. Upon earning his AB from Fisk in 1951, Steen became one of twenty-five students in the nation selected for work-study scholarships at the Oberlin College Seminary.

Though his highest aspiration had been to attend Union Seminary in New York City, Steen grew to appreciate Oberlin's cultural opportunities and diversity. During his first year, he became student pastor of the only congregation he would serve, the Mount Zion Baptist Church in Oberlin. In April of 1952, he was asked to serve as interim pastor at Mt. Zion when the regular minister, Rev. Norman C. Crosby, resigned. After just two months, the church voted unanimously to appoint him regular pastor, and in June he was ordained to the Baptist ministry at Mount Nebo Baptist Church in Nashville. Steen distinguished himself as a promising student in the Graduate School of Theology, receiving the "Thomas W. Graham Homiletics Award" in 1953 for extraordinary gifts in the art of preaching. He received the Bachelor of Divinity degree in 1955 and the Master of Sacred Theology in 1957. He did post-graduate work at the Princeton Theological Seminary, and in 1974 obtained the Doctor of Ministry from the Vanderbilt University Divinity School in Nashville. In 1967 Guadalupe College of Seguin, Texas conferred upon him an honorary doctorate in Divinity. Apart from being a talented and devoted preacher, Dr. Fred L. Steen was an accomplished musician, an impassioned advocate for social change, and a prominent community leader.

At Fisk, he was a voice student under John Conrad of the Oberlin Conservatory and a member of the eminent Fisk University Choir. He studied piano with the renowned Swedish American concert pianist Ejnar Krantz. Steen light-heartedly referred to himself as the "all-purpose pastor" because he was always ready to stand in on organ if the need arose.

Through his tireless civic involvement and his role in the pulpit as spiritual mentor and counselor, Rev. Steen addressed racial discrimination, fair housing, poverty, unemployment, welfare, and juvenile delinquency. His friendship with Martin Luther King, Jr., which began at a convention in St. Louis in 1955, was a tremendous source of inspiration. Steen was a member of the Oberlin Civil Service Commission and the Oberlin Committee on Open Housing. He contributed to the outlining of a resolution for the first ordinance prohibiting discrimination in housing. He was the first clergyman elected to the board of trustees of Allen Memorial Hospital in Oberlin and served for over seven years on the Treatment and Services Committee of Lorain County United Health Foundation. In 1972, Oberlin College formally recognized Dr. Steen's unflagging commitment, honoring him with the "Distinguished Community Service Award." Steen also gave the first Dr. Vernon N. Johns Memorial Lecture at Oberlin College (1990), and, in 1993, he delivered the Oberlin College baccalaureate speech, entitled “The Potter’s House.”

Fred L. Steen served Mt. Zion Baptist faithfully for forty-six years (1952-1998), earning the respect and admiration of his followers, presiding over the expansion and remodeling of the church, and working toward the elimination of all the congregation’s debts. He was elected a trustee of the Ohio Baptist Convention in 1970, and was secretary of the publishing board of the Progressive National Baptist Convention for three years. Steen embarked on many preaching missions throughout the United States and Canada, and was invited to the White House to attend a reception for Pope John Paul II hosted by Jimmy Carter on 1979 October 6. He described greeting the Pope as “a thrilling experience and a very humbling one.”

Rev. Steen was married three times. With his third wife, Ivra Evelyn Bowen whom he wed on 1972 June 4, he had two sons, Freddie Lee Jr. and Kevin Edward, and one daughter, Erica Lorena. He died on 1998 March 11 at the age of 69, shortly before he planned to retire.

Sources Consulted

"Mt. Zion to Honor Rev. Steen, pastor of church for 25 years". Oberlin News-Tribune. 29 September 1977.

"The Pastor's Profile" in 40th Pastoral Anniversary of the Rev. Dr. Fred L. Steen, Sr. 1992.

"Rev. Dr. Fred Lee Steen Sr." [obituary] Oberlin News-Tribune. 17 March 1998.

“The Reverend Dr. Fred L. Steen.” Oberlin College Baccalaureate Service booklet, May 1993. (RG 0)

"Rev. Fred Steen Is Accomplished Musician, Singer". Elyria Chronicle-Telegram. 23 September 1953.

Bowden, Artemesia. "About Our Minister" in The Mt. Zion Baptist Church Celebrates its Golden Cornerstone Year. 1954.

Bowden, Artemesia. "High Scholastic Honors Won By Ex-San Antonian". Express & News (San Antonio, Texas). 2 May 1954.

Courtright, Debbie. "Oberlin blacks find inspiration, haven at 'Rev. Steen's Church'". Elyria Chronicle-Telegram. 8 February 1981.

Evans, Cynthia. "Steens attend big reception". Oberlin News-Tribune. 11 October 1979.

Note written by Jonathan Thurn and Chris Juhasz