The victory of the United States over the Confederacy and subsequent emancipation of remaining slaves in the South has brought an end to decades-old Southern laws mandating the supervision of black churches by whites. Freed from such constraints, the African American Ebenezer Baptist Church in Richmond installs Rev. Peter Randolph (1825-1897) as the congregation’s first…
The Second Baptist Church of St. Louis, Missouri is the host of the 33rd anniversary meeting of the American Baptist Home Mission Society. Those gathered celebrate the end of the war. In his opening address, host pastor Galusha Anderson rejoices that “as an evidence of the new era on which we have entered, a convention…
With the war effectively over, Charleston, South Carolina is transitioning to a new normalcy in which whites and blacks alike enjoy freedom. The work of the United States Christian Commission, a philanthropic-government hybrid organization that assists freed persons in transitioning into a life of freedom, is finished in the southern port city. Baptist minister Charles…