40 lines
1.4 KiB
Markdown
40 lines
1.4 KiB
Markdown
---
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id:
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aliases: []
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tags: []
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title: Reverend Dr. William Hamilton Bill Alexander
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---
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# Reverend Dr. William Hamilton Bill Alexander
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Reverend Dr. William Hamilton Bill Alexander,
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born 1915-01-10 in Shelbyville, Missouri,
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was pastor of the First Christian Church of Oklahoma City
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until his death 1960-04-03.
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He is the likely originator of the "sharpen the axe" quote
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frequently misattributed to Abraham Lincoln.
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The earliest citation for a similar quote
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is this second hand account of a 1944 speech by Alexander,
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> [!quote] "Radio Church Ads Poor"[^1]
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> On preparation he urged his hearers to study and prepare themselves,
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> relating the instance of the lumberjack
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> who said that if his life depended upon his ability to cut down a tree in five minutes
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> he would spend three minutes sharpening his axe.
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[^1]: 1944 December 2, Sooner State Press, "Radio Church Ads Poor",
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Quote Page 2, Column 2, Norman, Oklahoma. (Newspapers.com)
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## Death
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lamenting the imminent demolition of the [William Alexander Youth Center](https://okcmod.com/architecture/endangered/william-alexander-youth-center/),
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but the newspaper they cited was paywalled,
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so I transcribed [[1960-04-04_durant-daily-democrat|a different one]].
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## Legacy
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In 2022 Alexander's "Church of Tommorow" was demolished.
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[An article by the Oklahoman](https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/religion/2022/10/07/a-look-at-the-history-of-the-demolished-first-christian-church-building/69531476007/)
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details its history.
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