Bethel Baptist Institutional Church of Jacksonville, Florida, the oldest Baptist church in the state, is claimed by both white and black members. As related by one historian: “Instituted in 1838 by James McDonald and Ryan Frier, who served as co-pastors, Bethel Baptist’s congregation numbered six charter members including two slaves called Bacchus and Peggy. Church…
The formation of African American Baptist churches in the South continues unabated. Among the many congregations established this month is the Beards Chapel Baptist Church of Robertson County, Tennessee. Black churches, however, are often used for more than worship services. In Macon, Georgia, one of the South’s newest Freedmen schools operates out of an African…
Martin R. Delany (1812-1885), a native Virginian, is a leading African American abolitionist. He is also a writer, editor, doctor, and politician, having worked alongside Frederick Douglass in editing the abolitionist newspaper, North Star. During the war Delany served as a major, the U.S. Army’s first black field officer. Upon the conclusion of the great…