When Northern missionaries, many Baptists, in 1863 onward arrived in the South to work among freedmen, they oftentimes found black congregations led by licensed, and in some cases ordained, preachers. This was especially true in Savannah, where the First African Baptist Church and Third African Baptist Church, both among the older black Baptist churches in…
Today the New England Freedmen’s Aid Society convenes in Boston for its annual meeting. Founded on February 4, 1862, the northern, Christian-based Society provides teachers to educate freedmen. Initially based out of Port Royal, South Carolina, the Society in the ensuing years established schools in other Union-controlled areas such as the District of Columbia; Beaufort,…
Northern missionaries, some Baptists, are operating the first school for former slaves on the Union-controlled South Carolina island of St. Helena. The school is part of the United States’ Port Royal experiment of educating and training freed slaves for autonomous living. Began on the Oak Plantation in June, the school quickly grows and this month…