W.H. Jernagin was born near Macon, Mississippi, and attended Meridian Academy, Guadalupe College in Texas, Jackson College, and Alcorn College. He went on to teach in Mississippi public schools for five years before pursuing his license to become a pastor in 1890. He moved to Washington, D.C., where beginning in 1912 he led the Mt. Caramel Baptist Church. He served as the president of the National Peace Conference of America in 1916, and he traveled to France to preach to black troops. Jernagin also attended the Pan-African Conference in 1919 and 1921, and he was elected president of the Consolidated National Equal Rights League and Race Conference. In 1932 he served as the Washington, D.C., delegate to the National Republican Convention, and in 1937 he was elected President of the Fraternal Council of Negro Churches.

Source:
Who’s Who in Colored America . Ed. Thomas Yenser. 5 th ed. Thomas Yenser: New York, 1940. pg. 284.