Russell H. Conwell (1843-1925) was born in South Worthington, Massachusetts, and died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was a lawyer, author, lecturer, Baptist minister, and philanthropist. He converted to Christianity following a battlefield injury incurred while serving as a captain in the Union army in the American Civil War. After the war, he worked as a lawyer and journalist and authored several books on historical, political, and religious topics. Ordained a Baptist minister in 1880, Conwell was called to the pastorate of Grace Baptist Church in Philadelphia in 1882. There, his engaging preaching style attracted large crowds that quickly overfilled the church's capacity. He then mobilized a fundraising effort resulting in the construction of a massive new church known as The Baptist Temple. He also founded and served as the first president of Temple University and continued to lecture and publish widely throughout his lifetime. His most famous speech, titled "Acres of Diamonds," was published in 1890, and he went on to deliver it over 6,000 times to audiences worldwide.

In the late 1870s, Conwell was the lawyer who successfully represented Mary Baker Eddy's husband, Asa Gilbert Eddy, and her student Edward J. Arens in the "Conspiracy to Murder" Case. He went on to speak and write supportively of Eddy over the following several decades of his career as a Baptist minister, and he and his ideas were frequently referenced in articles published in the Christian Science periodicals during that time.

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