Dr. Fitts is an Adjunct Instructor of Church History at the Ecumenical Institute of Theology, St. Mary's Seminary and University, Baltimore, MD., and Pastor Emeritus of the First Baptist Church of Baltimore. He received graduate degrees from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, Wake Forest, North Carolina; Baltimore Hebrew University, Baltimore, MD.; and, additional studies at the NEH Institute of African American Studies, Princeton University. He has lectured at various colleges, universities and seminaries. His scholarly/published works include: Lott Carey: First Black Missionary To Africa, Judson Press, Valley Forge, PA., 1979; A History of Black Baptists, Broadman Press,… Nashville, TN, 1985; The Lott Carey Legacy of African American Mission, Gateway Press, Baltimore, MD., 1994; contributed biographical essays and other articles for such publications as "African American Religion: Research Problems for the 1990's", published by the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York City Public Library,1993; The Encyclopedia of African American History and Culture, published by Columbia University, New York City, 1995; the Lott Carey Herald, Lott Carey Baptist Foreign Mission Convention; Encyclopedia of African American Religion, published by Garland Publishing, Inc., 1993; and The Baptist Heritage, 2008.