Today is Charleston’s first Emancipation Day, three years after former President Abraham Lincoln issued his Emancipation Proclamation. In the heart of the former Confederacy and accompanied by the 33rd U.S. Colored Troops, thousands, many of whom are Baptists, participate in the parade, listen to speeches, and eat barbecue. The South Carolina Leader describes the scene:…

As the year draws to a close, Southern Baptist leaders convene to evaluate the status of their depleted and financially-stricken mission boards and seek a way forward. “At the time the war commenced the Foreign Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, located in this city, had about thirty-five Missionaries laboring among the heathen. This…

With the anniversary of Emancipation Day drawing nigh, the first since the end of the war, Southern whites in the region’s cities are on alert. A number of Christmas racial day riots in cities across the South have amplified fears that former slaves may cause trouble. In Richmond, the former Confederate capital of which whites…