Inducted 1997

J. R. "Pap" Baxter was a pioneering figure in the development of Southern Gospel Music. Individually and through his partnership with V.O. Stamps, his impact on commercial gospel music was immeasurable. 

After an early career with the A. J. Showalter Company, he joined forces with fellow entrepreneur V. O. Stamps in 1926 and the pair created one of the most successful companies in the gospel music field, The Stamps-Baxter Music and Printing Company. 

The annual Stamps-Baxter School of Music trained several generations of young people throughout the South in the fundamentals of composing and performing gospel music. Baxter helped to popularize gospel music throughout the country through the publication of shape-note songbooks and by sponsoring numerous quartets on the radio. Shape-note songbooks from the Stamps-Baxter Music and Printing Company found their way into homes and churches throughout America.