The Divinity School and DuBois Institute for Afro-American Research yesterday concluded a three-day conference on African-American religious history.

The conference, "Human Rights and African-American Religious History," was organized in honor of Preston Noah Williams, who has served as Houghton Professor of Theology since 1971.

Scholars explored issues ranging from Sojourner Truth's religious experiences to racial justice and presented papers in four areas: 19th century African-American religious history; gender and African-American religious studies; Martin Luther King, Jr.; and liberalism and race.

"There were a variety of perspectives," said Professor of Afro-American Studies Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham yesterday. "It was one of the finest conferences I have ever attended. It was a real tribute to a person."

The institute plans to publish the proceedings of this weekend's conference late next year, Higginbotham said.

The Harvard professor led the conference along with the Rev. Thomas J.S. Mikelson, of the First; Unitarian Church.

All the scholars at the conference were either former students of Williams or had been part of a dissertation fellows program that Williams pioneered, according to Randall K. Burkett, fellows officer at the DuBois Institute. "I felt there was a real esprit among the conferences," Burkett said.

A performance by the gospel choir of Detroit's Hartford Memorial Baptist Church concluded the conference yesterday.

Williams served as the first director of the DuBois Institute, from 1975 to 1977, and initiated a dissertation fellows program for doctoral candidates.

The fellows program supported five graduate students annually for a one-year period. Former fellows include Higginbotham and Professor of Afro-American Studies Cornel R. West '74.

Although the program was discontinued in 1980 when outside funding expired, it is being revived by DuBois Professor of the Humanities Henry Louis Gates Jr., Burkett said.